As the U.S. House of Representatives is about to launch impeachment again, Trump appeared in Texas on the 12th to take a “last look” at his U.S.-Mexico border wall. According to the analysis of the U.S. media, after the Capitol Hill riots, Trump tried to save his image and consolidate the “political legacy” by “showing off” his standard achievements.
According to NPR, Trump arrived in the U.S.-Mexico border city of Alamo on the 12th and made a brief speech during his inspection of the border wall. This is also Trump’s first public appearance after the Capitol Hill incident.
In his speech, Trump talked about his efforts to curb illegal immigration and the progress he made tout his 2016 campaign promise to build a border wall between the United States and Mexico. As of January 8, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) said that the Trump administration had completed the construction of the 453 miles (about 730 kilometers) border wall.
During the 2016 U.S. presidential election, Trump vowed to build a 1,000-mile (about 1,610 kilometers) “large and beautiful wall” on the U.S.-Mexico border, and claimed that Mexico would pay for the construction. However, American taxpayers finally “pay the bill” for the wall.
Over the past four years, Trump has repeatedly regarded the construction of the border wall as a major achievement. Reuters said on the 12th that this wall can be said to be the most specific “political legacy” of Trump’s four years of administration and his comprehensive reform of the U.S. immigration system.
Last week, after the Capitol Hill riots, Trump was almost put in a “wall down and pushed by everyone”. NPR analysis notes that Trump wants to distract the Capitol Hill incident by showing off his iconic election promise, the border wall, and make a final push as his term counts down. The article also described that “Trump looked at his border wall for the last time as Congress was considering impeachment.”
Speaking near the U.S.-Mexico border wall, Trump also downplayed the “crisis” he faced. Trump said, “The 25th Amendment is zero risk for me.” Recently, Democrats have repeatedly urged Vice President Pence to pass this amendment to remove Trump.
Meanwhile, Trump defended his speech on the 6th, insisting that his speech was “completely appropriate”. According to analysis by the Associated Press and other foreign media, this statement represents Trump’s belief that he has no responsibility for the congressional riots and “without regret”.
However, in the view of many analysts, Trump’s trip to the border wall will not help him divert his attention from the events on Capitol Hill.
“Every president (of the United States) will try to glorify the ‘political legacy’ by highlighting his achievements in the last days of his term,” said Alex Conant, a Republican in the United States. But Trump’s problem is that his trip is completely covered up by the impact of last week’s events.
NPR pointed out that just as Trump signed and praised his immigration policy on the border wall, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) also updated the arrest of demonstrators on Capitol Hill.
It is worth mentioning that U.S. President-elect Biden has said that he will stop the construction of the U.S.-Mexico border wall. In his speech on the 12th, Trump warned that Biden’s overthrow of his policies would lead to “illegal immigration waves” and that ending these policies would put the United States at “grave danger”.
