{"id":60621,"date":"2018-12-12T19:59:22","date_gmt":"2018-12-12T19:59:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2018\/12\/12\/trump-says-military-could-build-border-wall-but-democrats-push-back\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T00:30:08","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T00:30:08","slug":"trump-says-military-could-build-border-wall-but-democrats-push-back","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/congress\/2018\/12\/12\/trump-says-military-could-build-border-wall-but-democrats-push-back\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump says military could build border wall, but Democrats push back"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">WASHINGTON \u2014 A day after President Donald Trump <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/your-military\/2018\/12\/11\/trump-says-troops-could-finish-building-border-wall\/\" target=\"_blank\">threatened <\/a>to have <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/your-military\/2018\/11\/21\/border-deployment-price-tag-to-date-72-million-pentagon-says\/\" target=\"_blank\">the military<\/a> build his wall <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/your-military\/2018\/11\/21\/white-house-approves-use-of-force-some-law-enforcement-roles-for-border-troops\/\" target=\"_blank\">along the southern border<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/congress\/2018\/11\/07\/democrats-big-night-brings-big-questions-for-defense-policy\/\" target=\"_blank\">Rep. Adam Smith<\/a>, who is expected to become the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, said he can use the position to block such a move \u2014 with Republican help.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe can certainly put legislation in that says no Department of Defense money should go toward the wall, and that would preclude using our soldiers as part of the effort to build it,\u201d said Smith, D-Wash. \u201cI think there is some bipartisan support for that idea precisely because Republicans see greater defense needs.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In comments during a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2018\/12\/12\/military-equality-issues-including-transgender-troops-atop-democrats-2019-defense-agenda\/\" target=\"_blank\">breakfast with reporters <\/a>on Wednesday, Smith also said Trump would be breaking his single biggest campaign promise: that Mexico, and not the United States, would pay for the wall \u2014 an assertion Smith called \u201cinsane.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cHis campaign promise is that Mexico would pay for the wall, so why in the name of God are we shutting down the U.S. government because we won\u2019t pay for it? Why is he breaking his promise?\u201d Smith said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">With a partial government shutdown looming for Dec. 21, the president is pressing Democratic leaders on Capitol Hill to provide $5 billion to fund his border wall. Democrats are backing plans that would allocate $1.6 billion for the project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On Tuesday, Trump got into a televised Oval Office dustup with House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., over a multi-agency appropriations legislation that would avert the shutdown. There, Trump threatened that the military will build the remaining sections if Democrats withhold their support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe wall will get built,\u201d he insisted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In an early morning series of tweets ahead of the meeting, Trump fumed over the budget fight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIf the Democrats do not give us the votes to secure our Country, the Military will build the remaining sections of the Wall,\u201d Trump wrote. \u201cThey know how important it is!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/newsletters\/morning-defense\/2018\/12\/12\/trump-suggests-again-the-military-could-build-a-border-wall-453838\" target=\"_blank\">Politico reported<\/a> that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/congress\/2018\/11\/01\/inhofe-offers-way-for-trump-to-fund-wall-cheers-troop-deployments-to-border\/\" target=\"_blank\">Senate Armed Services Chairman Jim Inhofe<\/a>, R-Okla., suggested Tuesday he would be open to supporting using defense funds for a border wall, \u201cas long as it doesn\u2019t diminish the amount of money that\u2019s going to go for war fighting.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But by the end of the the day, a Pentagon spokesman said in a statement that \u201cthere is no plan\u201d for the military to build sections of a border wall. However, Army Lt. Col. Jamie Davis added that the military may have the power to fund \u201cbarrier projects\u201d in national emergencies or to counter the drug trade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But that too is up for debate. The Senate Armed Services Committee\u2019s ranking member, Sen. Jack Reed, is one of four Democrats pushing back after the Navy initiated studies on building more than 31 miles of barriers along the Barry M. Goldwater Range near Yuma, Arizona.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A Dec. 10 letter from Reed, D-R.I., and other lawmakers called the studies &#8220;wasteful and unjustified expenditure.\u201d The other signatories included Dick Durbin, D-Ill., vice chairman of the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee; Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., vice chairman of the Appropriations Committee; and Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, ranking member of the Military Construction, Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies Subcommittee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe believe the Department of Defense lacks any authorization or appropriations needed to move this project into any stage of construction during fiscal year 2019,\u201d the authors wrote, adding that it contradicts guidance that the Pentagon focus on lethality and affordability.<\/p>\n\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A day after President Trump threatened to have the military build his border wall with Mexico, a Democratic lawmaker is threatening to block such a move \u2014 with Republican help.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":99461,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":8,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":{"2":{"categories":["pentagon-congress","news","left-column","home","middle-column"],"primary_category":"pentagon-congress"},"4":{"categories":["pentagon-congress","news","daily-news-roundup","newsletters","middle-column","home"],"primary_category":"pentagon-congress"},"5":{"categories":["pentagon-congress","news","daily-news-roundup","newsletters","middle-column","home"],"primary_category":"pentagon-congress"},"6":{"categories":["pentagon-congress","news","daily-news-roundup","newsletters","middle-column","home"],"primary_category":"pentagon-congress"},"7":{"categories":["daily-news-roundup","newsletters","middle-column","home"],"primary_category":"daily-news-roundup"},"8":{"categories":["congress","federal-oversight","home","daily-brief","newsletters","acquisition-update"],"primary_category":"congress"}}},"categories":[8,160,11,36,48],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3446],"class_list":["post-60621","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-congress","category-daily-news-roundup","category-global","category-newsletters","category-the-americas"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"CAM3ZA42E5AYLNT7K4MNUTBANQ","arc_canonical_url":"\/congress\/2018\/12\/12\/trump-says-military-could-build-border-wall-but-democrats-push-back\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Trump says military could build border wall, but Democrats push back - Defense News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A day after President Trump threatened to have the military build his border wall with Mexico, a Democratic lawmaker is threatening to block such a move \u2014 with Republican help.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Trump says military could build border wall, but Democrats push back\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A day after President Trump threatened to have the military build his border wall with Mexico, a Democratic lawmaker is threatening to block such a move \u2014 with Republican help.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/congress\/2018\/12\/12\/trump-says-military-could-build-border-wall-but-democrats-push-back\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Defense News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-12-12T19:59:22+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-08-08T00:30:08+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Joe Gould\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Joe Gould\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\n\t    \"@context\": \"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\n\t    \"@graph\": [\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"Article\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/congress\\\/2018\\\/12\\\/12\\\/trump-says-military-could-build-border-wall-but-democrats-push-back\\\/#article\",\n\t            \"isPartOf\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/congress\\\/2018\\\/12\\\/12\\\/trump-says-military-could-build-border-wall-but-democrats-push-back\\\/\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"author\": {\n\t                \"name\": \"migration\",\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"headline\": \"Trump says military could build border wall, but Democrats push back\",\n\t            \"datePublished\": \"2018-12-12T19:59:22+00:00\",\n\t            \"dateModified\": \"2026-08-08T00:30:08+00:00\",\n\t            \"mainEntityOfPage\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/congress\\\/2018\\\/12\\\/12\\\/trump-says-military-could-build-border-wall-but-democrats-push-back\\\/\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"wordCount\": 577,\n\t            \"commentCount\": 0,\n\t            \"publisher\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/#organization\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"image\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/congress\\\/2018\\\/12\\\/12\\\/trump-says-military-could-build-border-wall-but-democrats-push-back\\\/#primaryimage\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"thumbnailUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/4926470.jpg.jpg\",\n\t            \"articleSection\": [\n\t                \"Congress\",\n\t                \"Daily News Roundup\",\n\t                \"Global\",\n\t                \"Newsletters\",\n\t                \"The Americas\"\n\t            ],\n\t            \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t            \"potentialAction\": [\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"CommentAction\",\n\t                    \"name\": \"Comment\",\n\t                    \"target\": [\n\t                        \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/congress\\\/2018\\\/12\\\/12\\\/trump-says-military-could-build-border-wall-but-democrats-push-back\\\/#respond\"\n\t                    ]\n\t                }\n\t            ]\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"WebPage\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/congress\\\/2018\\\/12\\\/12\\\/trump-says-military-could-build-border-wall-but-democrats-push-back\\\/\",\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/congress\\\/2018\\\/12\\\/12\\\/trump-says-military-could-build-border-wall-but-democrats-push-back\\\/\",\n\t            \"name\": \"Trump says military could build border wall, but Democrats push back - Defense News\",\n\t            \"isPartOf\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/#website\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"primaryImageOfPage\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/congress\\\/2018\\\/12\\\/12\\\/trump-says-military-could-build-border-wall-but-democrats-push-back\\\/#primaryimage\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"image\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/congress\\\/2018\\\/12\\\/12\\\/trump-says-military-could-build-border-wall-but-democrats-push-back\\\/#primaryimage\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"thumbnailUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/4926470.jpg.jpg\",\n\t            \"datePublished\": \"2018-12-12T19:59:22+00:00\",\n\t            \"dateModified\": \"2026-08-08T00:30:08+00:00\",\n\t            \"description\": \"A day after President Trump threatened to have the military build his border wall with Mexico, a Democratic lawmaker is threatening to block such a move \u2014 with Republican help.\",\n\t            \"breadcrumb\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/congress\\\/2018\\\/12\\\/12\\\/trump-says-military-could-build-border-wall-but-democrats-push-back\\\/#breadcrumb\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t            \"potentialAction\": [\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"ReadAction\",\n\t                    \"target\": [\n\t                        \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/congress\\\/2018\\\/12\\\/12\\\/trump-says-military-could-build-border-wall-but-democrats-push-back\\\/\"\n\t                    ]\n\t                }\n\t            ]\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"ImageObject\",\n\t            \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/congress\\\/2018\\\/12\\\/12\\\/trump-says-military-could-build-border-wall-but-democrats-push-back\\\/#primaryimage\",\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/4926470.jpg.jpg\",\n\t            \"contentUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/4926470.jpg.jpg\"\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"BreadcrumbList\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/congress\\\/2018\\\/12\\\/12\\\/trump-says-military-could-build-border-wall-but-democrats-push-back\\\/#breadcrumb\",\n\t            \"itemListElement\": [\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n\t                    \"position\": 1,\n\t                    \"name\": \"Home\",\n\t                    \"item\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/\",\n\t                    \"ad_zone\": \"home\"\n\t                },\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n\t                    \"position\": 2,\n\t                    \"name\": \"Congress\",\n\t                    \"item\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/congress\\\/\",\n\t                    \"ad_zone\": \"congress\"\n\t                },\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n\t                    \"position\": 3,\n\t                    \"name\": \"Trump says military could build border wall, but Democrats push back\"\n\t                }\n\t            ]\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"WebSite\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/#website\",\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/\",\n\t            \"name\": \"Defense News\",\n\t            \"description\": \"Covering the politics, business and technology of defense | Defense News\",\n\t            \"publisher\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/#organization\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"potentialAction\": [\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"SearchAction\",\n\t                    \"target\": {\n\t                        \"@type\": \"EntryPoint\",\n\t                        \"urlTemplate\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"\n\t                    },\n\t                    \"query-input\": {\n\t                        \"@type\": \"PropertyValueSpecification\",\n\t                        \"valueRequired\": true,\n\t                        \"valueName\": \"search_term_string\"\n\t                    }\n\t                }\n\t            ],\n\t            \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\"\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"Organization\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/#organization\",\n\t            \"name\": \"Defense News\",\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/\",\n\t            \"logo\": {\n\t                \"@type\": \"ImageObject\",\n\t                \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\n\t                \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/defensenews-logo-white.png\",\n\t                \"contentUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/defensenews-logo-white.png\",\n\t                \"caption\": \"Defense News\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"image\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"\n\t            }\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"Person\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1\",\n\t            \"name\": \"migration\",\n\t            \"image\": {\n\t                \"@type\": \"ImageObject\",\n\t                \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=gcf4cb6ee0ec29e49e7a963234e4340ec\",\n\t                \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\n\t                \"contentUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\n\t                \"caption\": \"migration\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/author\\\/migration\\\/\"\n\t        }\n\t    ]\n\t}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Trump says military could build border wall, but Democrats push back - Defense News","description":"A day after President Trump threatened to have the military build his border wall with Mexico, a Democratic lawmaker is threatening to block such a move \u2014 with Republican help.","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Trump says military could build border wall, but Democrats push back","og_description":"A day after President Trump threatened to have the military build his border wall with Mexico, a Democratic lawmaker is threatening to block such a move \u2014 with Republican help.","og_url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/congress\/2018\/12\/12\/trump-says-military-could-build-border-wall-but-democrats-push-back\/","og_site_name":"Defense News","article_published_time":"2018-12-12T19:59:22+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-08-08T00:30:08+00:00","author":"Joe Gould","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Joe Gould","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/congress\/2018\/12\/12\/trump-says-military-could-build-border-wall-but-democrats-push-back\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/congress\/2018\/12\/12\/trump-says-military-could-build-border-wall-but-democrats-push-back\/"},"author":{"name":"migration","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/#\/schema\/person\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1"},"headline":"Trump says military could build border wall, but Democrats push back","datePublished":"2018-12-12T19:59:22+00:00","dateModified":"2026-08-08T00:30:08+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/congress\/2018\/12\/12\/trump-says-military-could-build-border-wall-but-democrats-push-back\/"},"wordCount":577,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/congress\/2018\/12\/12\/trump-says-military-could-build-border-wall-but-democrats-push-back\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/4926470.jpg.jpg","articleSection":["Congress","Daily News Roundup","Global","Newsletters","The Americas"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/congress\/2018\/12\/12\/trump-says-military-could-build-border-wall-but-democrats-push-back\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/congress\/2018\/12\/12\/trump-says-military-could-build-border-wall-but-democrats-push-back\/","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/congress\/2018\/12\/12\/trump-says-military-could-build-border-wall-but-democrats-push-back\/","name":"Trump says military could build border wall, but Democrats push back - Defense News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/congress\/2018\/12\/12\/trump-says-military-could-build-border-wall-but-democrats-push-back\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/congress\/2018\/12\/12\/trump-says-military-could-build-border-wall-but-democrats-push-back\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/4926470.jpg.jpg","datePublished":"2018-12-12T19:59:22+00:00","dateModified":"2026-08-08T00:30:08+00:00","description":"A day after President Trump threatened to have the military build his border wall with Mexico, a Democratic lawmaker is threatening to block such a move \u2014 with Republican help.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/congress\/2018\/12\/12\/trump-says-military-could-build-border-wall-but-democrats-push-back\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/congress\/2018\/12\/12\/trump-says-military-could-build-border-wall-but-democrats-push-back\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/congress\/2018\/12\/12\/trump-says-military-could-build-border-wall-but-democrats-push-back\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/4926470.jpg.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/4926470.jpg.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/congress\/2018\/12\/12\/trump-says-military-could-build-border-wall-but-democrats-push-back\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/","ad_zone":"home"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Congress","item":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/congress\/","ad_zone":"congress"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Trump says military could build border wall, but Democrats push back"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/#website","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/","name":"Defense News","description":"Covering the politics, business and technology of defense | Defense News","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/#organization","name":"Defense News","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/defensenews-logo-white.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/defensenews-logo-white.png","caption":"Defense News"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/#\/schema\/person\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1","name":"migration","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=gcf4cb6ee0ec29e49e7a963234e4340ec","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"migration"},"url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/author\/migration\/"}]}},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"Defense News","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews","push-errors":false,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/4926470.jpg.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60621","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=60621"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60621\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":60628,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60621\/revisions\/60628"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=60621"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=60621"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=60621"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=60621"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}