Trump freaks out over getting outsmarted by Democrats, claims wall is already built

With Democratic leaders announcing Wednesday night that Donald Trump agreed to help pass legislation to protect young, undocumented immigrants — without agreeing to fund his proposed border wall — Trump’s frantic spinning kicked in Thursday morning.

Making Mexico pay for the massive wall had been a signature campaign issue for Trump. Not only isn’t Mexico going to pay for it, neither are Democrats, as Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi have made clear.

That means Trump can’t finance the misguided endeavor, which means his activist base is going to be very unhappy.

Trump’s solution? He announced the wall’s already being built!

The WALL, which is already under construction in the form of new renovation of old and existing fences and walls, will continue to be built.

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 14, 2017

Trump seems to be suggesting that the 700 miles of border fencing that currently exists along the Mexico border, which was part of the Secure Fence Act of 2006 signed by George W. Bush, means Trump’s already succeeded on his campaign promise. But of course a fence does not equal a wall, and the two things are in no way related. It’s just desperate Trump spin.

Privately, Republican politicians likely welcome Trump’s effort to explain away the wall. It’s an illogical construction plan that most GOP members of Congress have no interest in building, according to Speaker of the House Paul Ryan. White House attempts to fund the wall have bordered on the absurd.

Meanwhile, Thursday morning, Trump also posted a couple of pro-immigration tweets that sounded like they came from Pelosi’s office:

Does anybody really want to throw out good, educated and accomplished young people who have jobs, some serving in the military? Really!…..

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 14, 2017

…They have been in our country for many years through no fault of their own – brought in by parents at young age. Plus BIG border security

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 14, 2017

Trump has been typically erratic on the key issue of immigration this summer. Last week, he called to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA, which President Barack Obama introduced to shield young undocumented immigrants, or Dreamers, from deportation by providing them with permits to work and study in the U.S. The initiative has granted work permits to approximately 800,000 young undocumented immigrants. And it’s estimated that 65,000 Dreamers graduate from high school each year in America.

But then facing a bipartisan backlash, Trump changed course and suggested he simply wanted Congress to codify DACA protections via legislation.

Such a deal would accomplish what Democrats have been trying to do for years: pass legislation that would assure Dreamers be allowed to stay in America. Republicans under Obama constantly blocked any vote in Congress that would do exactly that. So it would be ironic if a pro-immigration bill championed by Democrats ended up passing under Trump, who campaigned on an anti-immigrant platform.

And that’s one reason his white nationalist base is now freaking out. Which is why Trump’s pretending his mighty, mythical southwest border-wall is already being built.