Trump Today: President says he won’t sign immigration bill without border-wall funding



President Donald Trump said Friday he won’t sign an immigration bill that doesn’t fund a border wall, as he told journalists a Justice Department report showed “total bias” against him and announced tariffs on China.

NO BILL WITHOUT WALL

In an interview on Fox News and again on Twitter, Trump laid out demands for signing an immigration bill. Asked on Fox about two bills that were expected to be on the House floor next week, Trump said he wouldn’t sign “the more moderate one” backed by House Speaker Paul Ryan. He tweeted that “Any Immigration Bill MUST HAVE full funding for the Wall, end Catch & Release, Visa Lottery and Chain [migration], and go to Merit Based Immigration.” A White House official told the Hill that Trump misunderstood the question on Fox, and that he supports the bill backed by Ryan as well as another, more-hardline measure.

Also read: Trump said he wishes his people would respond to him like North Korea’s Kim

The Ryan-backed plan does fund the border wall and includes the other demands Trump made. It also curbs the administration’s policy of separating children from parents seeking asylum at the border. Trump said he hates to see the separation, and blamed Democrats for the policy. Yet White House officials haven’t been able to cite U.S. law that requires it.

‘TOTAL BIAS’

Trump said the conclusion of the report by the Justice Department’s internal watchdog showed “total bias” against him. He was referring to text messages from FBI agent Peter Strzok that were disclosed in the report.

He called the report by the inspector general a “horror show” and called its conclusion “ridiculous.”

See: FBI agent Strzok said ‘we’ll stop’ Trump, Justice Department watchdog’s report reveals

Separately, Trump said that he’d be willing to talk with special counsel Robert Mueller, who is investigating Russian interference in the 2016 election, but added that the probe “seems to be very biased.”

The president also commented on a federal judge’s ordering his former campaign chairman Paul Manafort to jail until his trial, and stated via Twitter, “what a tough sentence.” Manafort hasn’t been sentenced, but has had his bail revoked after being accused of tampering with witnesses.

See: Judge orders ex-Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort jailed until trial

CHINA TARIFFS

Trump announced tariffs on $50 billion in Chinese imports and said the U.S. would pursue more tariffs if China retaliates. In a statement, he said the 25% tariffs would be applied to goods from China containing “industrially significant technologies.” China had already pledged retaliatory action. (Read Trump’s statement at WhiteHouse.gov.)

Read: Escalating U.S.-China trade spat comes at a bad time for global growth, economist says.