Trump wants to bypass the government contracting process

Trump has no respect for government regulations that ensure a fair bidding process for government contracts.

NEW: Trump has repeatedly urged the Army Corps of Engineers and DHS officials to pick a particular North Dakota firm to build his border wall, alarming government officials & upending a traditionally staid contracting process. w/@NickMiroff: https://t.co/ltJE9gEZ56
— Josh Dawsey (@jdawsey1) May 23, 2019

I know we stopped keeping count but steering federal contracts to political supporters is definitely illegal and impeachable https://t.co/8SUwyd74EY
— Dan Pfeiffer (@danpfeiffer) May 23, 2019

Trump brought up ND-based Fisher Industries again during an Oval Office meeting today with military commanders and WH officials. He continues to insist the border wall should be painted black and has said he wants "French Doors" instead of sliding gates, which he thinks are ugly
— Nick Miroff (@NickMiroff) May 23, 2019

Border fence plaque lie

This project is not part of the border wall.
Whatever it is, it isn’t Trump’s border wall. It belongs to all of us. They politicize everything.

It really says something when the federal government installs a plaque with a falsehood. https://t.co/GTDWSqGvWM
— Glenn Kessler (@GlennKesslerWP) April 1, 2019

Even their plaques lie. https://t.co/DQnKDcHiBs
— George Conway (@gtconway3d) April 2, 2019

No one read @aflores's article to him:

Assistant chief patrol agent David Kim said the project, planned before Trump even announced his candidacy in 2015, shouldn’t be linked to debate about a wall.https://t.co/i4qGsNCxGx
— Aaron Hall (@immlawACHall) April 1, 2019

What appears to have happened: Border Patrol accurately described the project in early 2018 as long-planned replacement fence, then Trump's team decided in late 2018, having not built any new wall, that it was going to brand replacement fence as his wall, so a plaque went up.
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) April 5, 2019

“Never mind that … the Border Patrol’s El Centro sector [said] … that the project shouldn’t be linked to the debate about the wall. ‘This is a local tactical infrastructure project that was planned for quite some time.’”https://t.co/987Dz7PyN7
— George Conway (@gtconway3d) April 2, 2019

Trump threatens to close the border with Mexico

President Trump repeated his threat to close down the border between the US and Mexico, this time setting a deadline of next week if Mexico doesn't step up. @edlavaCNN reports. https://t.co/2z1TnDVGfY pic.twitter.com/DhG76JRQYF
— CNN (@CNN) March 29, 2019

Trump just now: "Mexico is going to have to do something. With the trade deficit we've had with Mexico, closing the border is going to be a profit-making operation."

A profit-making operation. Hmmmm.
— Christina Wilkie (@christinawilkie) March 29, 2019

Here's the full (eye-poppingly inaccurate) quote: "Mexico is gonna have to do something, otherwise I'm closing the border. I'll just close the border. And with a deficit like we have with Mexico, and have had for many years, closing the border will be a profit-making operation."
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) March 29, 2019

Just now, per @JDiamond1, Trump "falsely claimed that 'closing the border will be a profit-making operation for the US,' even though closing the US-Mexico border would in fact result in significant economic losses for both countries."
— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) March 29, 2019

"Mexico could stop it so easily," Trump said of "big caravans" he claimed are now coming from Central America.

He said he stopped foreign aid to Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador because "they set up these caravans" and threatened to close the border "for a long time" pic.twitter.com/UqxcBSgOwM
— POLITICO (@politico) March 29, 2019

If conditions were better in Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador, people would not seek asylum here. Foreign aid is in our interest, too, if you don’t want people to come here.

Trump says he’ll close all or much of the Mexican border “next week” if Mexico does not stop “ALL” illegal immigration by then. He usually doesn’t attach a specific deadline to this threat. pic.twitter.com/9ganJ2zMBz
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) March 29, 2019

TRUMP CAN'T: "shut down" the border to asylum-seekers crossing illegally
TRUMP CAN: shut down legal ports of entry
ADMINISTRATION MIGHT: move staff from ports to take care of migrants, even (if necessary) to the point of port closure
YOU SHOULD: read this https://t.co/6LDrU8RsSm
— Dara Lind (@DLind) March 29, 2019

Cutting off trade with Mexico would not stop thousands of migrants from crossing the border to exercise legal right to seek asylum on U.S. soil. And Mexico does not have the manpower or the means to immediately implement the kind of draconian enforcement regime Trump is demanding https://t.co/jm8Yn5crv4
— Nick Miroff (@NickMiroff) March 29, 2019

Canadian-born artist is building a wall of cheese along the U.S.-Mexico border #MakeAmericaGrateAgain (h/t @NaheedMustafa) https://t.co/Ubor3CxMvI pic.twitter.com/oA4A7K4X9u
— As It Happens (@cbcasithappens) March 28, 2019

$558 billion in goods flow across the U.S.- Mexico border in both directions, making Mexico our third-biggest trading partner for goods.

Closing the border would cost billions.

Trump is a business failure, and America doesn't have a rich father to cover up our losses.
— Nick Jack Pappas (@Pappiness) March 29, 2019

One of Trump’s lies about the wall

Trump has told a lot of lies about the wall including claims it is being built. Here’s one of the lies:

Remember when @realDonaldTrump tweeted on Xmas Eve that he "just gave out a 115 mile long contract for another large section of the Wall"? (That's a long contract, by the way!) A govt lawyer said in court last week "there is no such contract." @aaron_leib: https://t.co/ytR1g7dG7K
— Joshua A. Geltzer (@jgeltzer) March 5, 2019

Trump’s phony emergency

Since there’s no national emergency at border, Trump has to lie to make it seem like one. He gave his opponents plenty of ammunition by basically admitting this was a political move.

Trump used the families who have lost family members to murders by illegal immigrants. I am sorry for their losses but notice that Trump never does this for the victims of gun violence. That’s because the NRA spent $30 million to get him elected.

Fact-checking President Trump's speech declaring a national emergency to fund border wall. https://t.co/uZpdw8P9Qe
— NBC News (@NBCNews) February 15, 2019

New #FactChecker –> Fact-checking Trump’s announcement of a national emergency https://t.co/UqH7DmeeD7
— Glenn Kessler (@GlennKesslerWP) February 15, 2019

To summarize: he lied a lot. https://t.co/XPdej1pkdf
— paul stefanik (@daleks1973) February 15, 2019

Well, that was odd. My story on Trump ramblying through a national emergency declaration in which he undermined his case that this is an emergency: https://t.co/oTlGVFXpJp
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) February 15, 2019

One thing many articles and TV segments rarely convey, in my view, is how deeply bizarre some Trump appearances are. Lots of people will just hear a short clip of him saying he's calling an emergency because there's an invasion. https://t.co/ylz8QZFHy7
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) February 15, 2019

People often demand that reporters challenge Trump on the facts. They should — but today we saw what happens. https://t.co/z0CqRMbC3l
— Philip Bump (@pbump) February 15, 2019

He is now talking about women who are duct taped and smuggled in. "Nancy knows it," he says. (No one has produced evidence for this, and experts say they haven't heard of it.)
— Josh Dawsey (@jdawsey1) February 15, 2019

Trump has lied about this over and over.

Fact Check: To justify redirecting federal funds to a wall, President Trump made a litany of assertions about crime, drugs and other issues on the southern border. Nearly all were misleading, exaggerated or false. https://t.co/bl2ZDLjCOs
— NYT Politics (@nytpolitics) February 15, 2019

Trump is repeating his falsehood about effect of wall on crime in El Paso. El Paso’s GOP Mayor has already rejected this – as has CNN fact check. https://t.co/WEbYnbXcOh
— Jim Sciutto (@jimsciutto) February 15, 2019

another repeated lie

NEW: Fact-check on @realDonaldTrump's announcement of a national emergency to build a border wall. https://t.co/08cD5aipzn pic.twitter.com/q1WiIJcDvL
— PolitiFact (@PolitiFact) February 15, 2019

Here's NYT's chief fact checker on all the claims Trump made to justify his national emergency:

"Nearly all were misleading, exaggerated or false."https://t.co/YGV46t3sch

Is there any point at which presidential bad faith matters? That's one of the big questions we now face: https://t.co/8XaEdQzjQ8
— Greg Sargent (@ThePlumLineGS) February 17, 2019

"And I don't have to do it for the election; I've already done a lot of wall for the election 2020." — President Trumphttps://t.co/Yd6siOnoYb
— Chris Cillizza (@CillizzaCNN) February 18, 2019

Trump lied in his El Paso rally

I worry about the 2020 campaign and election. How are Trump and his cult going to handle if they lose? During the campaign, his claims will get wilder if he is losing and desperate to motivate his base. If he loses, will he and his cult accept the result?? I have my doubts.

Fact-checking President Trump's false claims during his El Paso rally last night. https://t.co/sFfcLYOrju
— MSNBC (@MSNBC) February 12, 2019

"The wall's being built. It'll continue. It's going at a rapid pace." — Trump

It's not.https://t.co/4p1uEN8wvU
— Chris Cillizza (@CillizzaCNN) February 12, 2019

Trump is doing a rally in El Paso. Tweets will be tweeted in this thread.
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) February 12, 2019

Daniel Dale’s thread-always great stuff

.@JoeNBC on Pres. Trump’s El Paso rally: “The lies that tumble out of [Trump’s] mouth are extraordinary. Again, for those who can’t afford the Google machine … native born Americans commit crimes at a much higher rate than immigrants.”https://t.co/TQHcO9LcyN
— MSNBC (@MSNBC) February 12, 2019

FACT CHECK: El Paso Fire Department confirms @realDonaldTrump lied about his crowd size — only 6,500 attended his embarrassing rally.

Meanwhile, estimates say up to 15,000 turned out for Beto.#MarchForTruth #FightForTruth https://t.co/OToy55O1sV
— The Daily Edge (@TheDailyEdge) February 12, 2019

Fact checking some of President Trump's El Paso speech https://t.co/rKuWl7B5QR pic.twitter.com/hoWCBFSV16
— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) February 12, 2019

Going to El Paso to lie so transparently about El Paso suggests either a death wish or a complete loss of contact with fact-based reality https://t.co/fTyTRVmojY
— Laurence Tribe (@tribelaw) February 12, 2019

Tonight in Texas, Trump repeated a false claim that a border wall made El Paso safer. Here are the facts:
Learn more: https://t.co/XDahNlsZsv #11MSNBC #11thHour pic.twitter.com/f6kEXoA2Wu
— 11th Hour (@11thHour) February 12, 2019

No, border barrier did not bring down crime in El Paso, despite @realdonaldtrump's claim https://t.co/4Ld3E9YYB3 pic.twitter.com/hRryHycZ1i
— PolitiFact (@PolitiFact) February 12, 2019

Beto O’Rourke fact-checked Trump’s rally live from across the street in El Paso https://t.co/Pq5zRbs0gO via @voxdotcom
— (((DeanObeidallah))) (@DeanObeidallah) February 12, 2019

most Americans have little reason to pay attention to his rants. He’s not setting policy nor saying anything new. In fact, he has become a bit of a bore. https://t.co/bUTnukrhzN
— Jennifer Rubin (@JRubinBlogger) February 12, 2019

Fact check: Trump says 10,000 at El Paso County Coliseum rally; Fire Department says not true https://t.co/2ZPNQboUpL
— El Paso Times (@elpasotimes) February 12, 2019

Trump lies about everything.

Trump’s phony border crisis – a chart

Trump's "border crisis"

h/t @ALT_uscis pic.twitter.com/WLY2dRz8On
— Rick Newman (@rickjnewman) February 11, 2019

El Paso update

Beto O’Rourke will be holding a rally tonight at the same time Trump’s rally is happening. Once again, le me point out that El Paso’s crime rate was declining before they built a barrier there. Trump is lying again.

https://twitter.com/ABCPolitics/status/1095067496023871489

Pres Trump tells visiting sheriffs there's a big line of people outside his event in El Paso waiting to get in, and that rival Beto O'Rourke has a line too but it's a "tiny little line."
— Steve Holland (@steveholland1) February 11, 2019

The comments are great.

No question what this @realDonaldTrump rally in El Paso is all about: pic.twitter.com/tTcIckusLp
— Jeremy Diamond (@JDiamond1) February 11, 2019

Parked a couple blocks from the site of the ⁦@realDonaldTrump⁩ rally in El Paso. pic.twitter.com/jT28lADBZG
— Bob Moore (@BobMooreNews) February 11, 2019

Trump tells reporters that 75,000 people signed up for his campaign rally tonight in El Paso but the arena holds only 8,000.
— Jennifer Jacobs (@JenniferJJacobs) February 11, 2019

CNN's @betsy_klein spoke with a source about Trump's rally in El Paso tonight. When she asked about Trump's repeated usage of widely-debunked stats about violent crime in El Paso, the source sarcastically responded, "LOL."
— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) February 11, 2019

The number of undocumented immigrants apprehended at the border has also declined in both cities. Apprehensions in El Paso have plummeted from nearly 120,000 in 2000 to 25,000 in 2017, according to US Border Patrol statistics. https://t.co/49OL01BIxa (6/8) pic.twitter.com/Z4mDIne5jT
— NBC News (@NBCNews) February 11, 2019

.@realDonaldTrump claims El Paso, Texas used to be one of the nation's most dangerous cities, but became one of the safest after a border barrier was built. Crime data contradicts Trump's claim. His claim is False. https://t.co/zPylwuWuqE pic.twitter.com/v39Qnn4K05
— PolitiFact (@PolitiFact) February 11, 2019

Says Republican civic leader in El Paso: “Mexico is an economic and strategic ally of the United States, and an antiquated effort to place a barrier between us just won’t work.” https://t.co/kXatciMI09
— Ronald Brownstein (@RonBrownstein) February 11, 2019

The first photo is where @BetoORourke will speak tonight. The second is one of the many pro-Trump vendors set up across the street. The two sides will be thisclose together… with tensions high. pic.twitter.com/qQDehsg5HG
— Garrett Haake (@GarrettHaake) February 11, 2019

Fact check: Trump claims a wall made El Paso safe. Data shows he’s lying again https://t.co/fu09eFuQNq
— Ali Velshi (@AliVelshi) February 11, 2019

El Paso officials denounce Trump’s border comments ahead of his 1st 2019 campaign rally https://t.co/CHsSCPAP8J pic.twitter.com/PijYJe2NXj
— ABC News (@ABC) February 11, 2019

Even the Republican mayor of El Paso said Trump is wrong about El Paso.

President Trump's distorted view of life in El Paso | By Erin Coulehan for @CNNOpinion https://t.co/HTubxGBkRK pic.twitter.com/xHJWnxSh1k
— CNN (@CNN) February 11, 2019

Expect a very interesting discussion of crowd sizes Monday night. The El Paso County Coliseum, site of the @realDonaldTrump rally, can seat 5,000 to 6,000 depending on configuration. The outdoor counter rally has no real limitations and the forecast is clear and temps in the 50s. https://t.co/peJEdk2UOh
— Bob Moore (@BobMooreNews) February 10, 2019

The real dangers locals in El Paso say they confront: Lowriders. Dehydration. A sizzling car steering wheel in the middle of summer.

Residents here are used to their city being mischaracterized as a war zone by outsiders. https://t.co/oX4qhmLKQP
— Texas Tribune (@TexasTribune) February 11, 2019

The major context behind Trump's visit to El Paso tonight: The city is one of the safest metropolitan areas in the country — before and after the fencing was completed there in 2009 https://t.co/WO71C347bn pic.twitter.com/85hbDhbEkl
— Mark Murray (@mmurraypolitics) February 11, 2019

El Paso’s GOP Mayor Dee Margo just told us President was “wrong” when he claimed El Paso one of America’s most dangerous cities before border barrier. CNN fact-checked this after SOTU. Data shows crime fell long before construction, flat after installation. pic.twitter.com/DPAJBkAWol
— Jim Sciutto (@jimsciutto) February 11, 2019

El Paso mayor says President Trump is “wrong” to connect the city’s crime drop and border barrier https://t.co/qoquo6YuYv pic.twitter.com/Hj5aVBrHnP
— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) February 11, 2019

Trump lies about human trafficking

Do human trafficking and sex trafficking along the U.S.-Mexico border mostly happen at ports of entry, or in remote areas of the frontier? Read what President Donald Trump said in the #SOTU and learn the facts about border trafficking in an #APFactCheck: https://t.co/w5yJXAjjBj
— AP Fact Check (@APFactCheck) February 6, 2019

There is human trafficking that occurs, of course. What Trump and DHS haven't done is linked it to the border.

Here are where human-trafficking suspects were in 2015, the most recent year for which there are data.https://t.co/E8sQaH3QVn pic.twitter.com/fvjnUCq4Ja
— Philip Bump (@pbump) February 6, 2019

Another poll shows the majority doesn’t want Trump’s wall

The American people do not want Trump’s wall. Period. https://t.co/FnZ10ywuS3
— The Democrats (@TheDemocrats) February 4, 2019

NEW Gallup Poll:
-The Wall: 40% support, 60% oppose.
-81% support pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants
-only 37% want to cut immigration levels, a massive drop from prior decades that continues to decline. https://t.co/BsjKlIl5dI
— Todd Schulte (@TheToddSchulte) February 4, 2019

60% of Americans oppose Trump’s border wall https://t.co/WYHk56mdko
— The Daily Beast (@thedailybeast) February 4, 2019

Two-thirds of Americans say an agreement to avert another shutdown is unlikely, most oppose Trump's proposed paths forward on a border wall. https://t.co/5XkTy7YPen
— Jennifer Agiesta (@jennagiesta) February 4, 2019

He’s trying to bully Congress by claiming he has a mandate. He’s bluffing. https://t.co/5nlUjTBtUf
— Slate (@Slate) February 2, 2019

Majority of Americans continue to say immigrants strengthen the U.S. #SOTU2019 https://t.co/xtSDSpxQRR pic.twitter.com/u3SWEQAQ0M
— Pew Research Fact Tank (@FactTank) February 3, 2019

New CNN poll shows 1 thing clearly: People think the government sucks pic.twitter.com/nz7Y2jc730
— Chris Cillizza (@CillizzaCNN) February 4, 2019

We know what Trump is doing: putting on full display Republicans' war on women by grossly attacking Speaker Pelosi during her honest negotiations. He's doing so when his approval numbers among women continue plummeting.https://t.co/IG1o458kMq
— Jorge Antonio (@jorge_aguilarDC) February 2, 2019

[ archives ]
Compared to five years ago, do you think race relations in the United States have gotten better, gotten worse, or stayed about the same?
Better 10%
Worse 59%
Same 30%
(Quinnipiac U. Poll, RV, 5/31 – 6/5/18)https://t.co/SbYaMCuW9R
— PollingReport.com (@pollreport) February 4, 2019

71% of Republicans say they support another partial government shutdown if an agreement that includes funding for a border wall can't be reached via new @CNN poll
— Ryan Struyk (@ryanstruyk) February 4, 2019

Trump's approval rating stands at 29% approve, 67% disapprove among Americans under 35 years old via new @CNN poll
— Ryan Struyk (@ryanstruyk) February 4, 2019