Trump wanted to have U.S. forces equipped with bayonets to stop migrants at border
Source: Washington Post
President Trump told aides last year he wanted U.S. forces with bayonets to block people from crossing into the United States across the Mexico border, one of several proposals he floated at moments of peak frustration with his inability to contain a migration surge, according to current and former administration officials involved in those discussions.
Trump also suggested the excavation of a border trench, or moat, that could be stocked with dangerous reptiles, the officials said, adding that such ideas, along with the bayonets, were not taken especially seriously by aides in the White House.
The New York Times reported Tuesday on Trump’s proposal for a moat filled with snakes and alligators, along with his suggestion that U.S. forces could open fire on migrants as they attempted to enter the country, potentially shooting at their legs to wound but not kill them.
The president denied those claims in a tweet Wednesday. “Now the press is trying to sell the fact that I wanted a Moat stuffed with alligators and snakes, with an electrified fence and sharp spikes on top, at our Southern Border,” he wrote. “I may be tough on Border Security, but not that tough. The press has gone Crazy. Fake News!” The Washington Post independently confirmed that the president did, in fact, say those things during border security meetings, including at moments when he demanded the wholesale closure of the Mexico border and appeared prepared to enforce the decree with violence.
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/trump-wanted-to-have-us-forces-equipped-with-bayonets-to-stop-migrants-at-border-among-other-ideas-officials-say/2019/10/03/445fc788-e554-11e9-a6e8-8759c5c7f608_story.html
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