President Trump threatens government shutdown, suggests controversial pardon at Arizona rally
PHOENIX - President Donald Trump on Tuesday threatened to shut down the government over border wall funding, said the North American Free Trade Agreement is likely to be terminated and signaled that he was prepared to pardon former Arizona sheriff Joe Arpaio, who is anathema to the Latino community.
Trump's freewheeling comments came during a boisterous campaign rally here during which he also went on an extended diatribe about the media, blaming reporters for the negative fallout he has received over his responses to the hate-fueled violence in Charlottesville, Virginia.
Arpaio was convicted last month of criminal contempt for ignoring a federal judge's order to stop detaining people because he merely suspected them of being undocumented immigrants. A major Trump supporter during last year's campaign, he awaits sentencing.
“So was Sheriff Joe convicted for doing his job?” Trump asked the crowd. “You know what, I'll make a prediction: I think he's going to be just fine, OK? But I won't do it tonight because I don't want to cause any controversy. But Sheriff Joe should feel good.”
Trump last week told Fox News that he was “seriously considering” a pardon for Arpaio and said he might do it soon, sparking speculation he would use Tuesday's campaign here to make the move.
In a speech that stretched well over an hour, Trump also expressed frustration with efforts to negotiate with Canada and Mexico to improve NAFTA, saying he was more likely to terminate the deal. He also blamed “obstructionist Democrats” for standing in the way of funding for a U.S.-Mexico border wall and suggesting a government shutdown might be needed to force their hand. And Trump called for ending the filibuster rule requiring 60 votes for many issues in the U.S. Senate, a move that Republican leaders have refused to embrace.
At the outset of the rally, Trump selectively recounted the series of statements he made in the days following the melee in Charlottesville, arguing that he “spoke out forcefully against hatred and bigotry and violence” but that the media - whom he called “sick people” - refused to report it properly.
“You know where my heart is,” Trump said, before pulling a copy of his first of three statements on the violence out of his suit coat and reading it his audience. He later accused the media of giving a platform to the hate groups that were central to the violence in Charlottesville that led to three deaths.
Following his comments last week, Trump was criticized by Democrats and Republicans alike for blaming “both sides” for the violence and saying that “fine people” had marched along with white supremacists to protest the removal of a Confederate statue. He did not mention either of those remarks Tuesday.
The rally, organized by Trump's reelection campaign, came as the president continues to face criticism for his response to Charlottesville and feuds with fellow Republicans in Congress whose cooperation he will need to kick-start his sputtering legislative agenda next month.
Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton, D, had urged Trump to not come to his city this week, saying that it was too tense of a time in the wake of the deadly Charlottesville clash between white nationalists and counterprotesters and that Trump could be setting the stage for more violent strife here. He also said that a pardon of Arpaio could make the situation even more dire.
Inside a partially filled Phoenix Convention Center, Trump was given a hero's welcome from supporters who chanted “USA! USA! USA!” and waved signs reading “Drain the Swamp,” “Make America Strong Again” and “Make America Proud Again.”
“You were there from the start, you've been there every day since, and believe me Arizona, I will never forget it,” Trump said at the start of his remarks, referencing a large crowd he drew at the site early in his campaign. His crowd Tuesday night numbered in the thousands but did not completely fill the hall at the convention center.
Before his arrival, Trump traveled to Yuma, Arizona, where he received a closed briefing on border protection - something he touts as being among his administration's successes - and greeted Marines and their families, signing a couple of autographs on camouflage hats.
Trump was greeted at the airport by Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey, R, who was not expected to attend the rally nor were the state's two Republican senators, with whom Trump has been openly sparring.
There was a heavy police presence in downtown Phoenix, with law enforcement seeking to maintain civility between Trump supporters and detractors. Authorities used tear gas to disperse protesters after the rally ended.
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