In a Rose Garden press conference, President Trump a deal which has been reached between his administration and Democrats to end the monthlong government shutdown. The interim spending bill, which will last for three weeks, until February 15th, does not include funds to build a border wall along the southern border, a position Trump promised not to stray. Although he denied caving to the Democrats, the fact that he agreed to a spending bill which doesn’t include funds for his promised border, suggests otherwise. Analysts immediately began excoriating the president for shutting down the government for apparently no gain, as well as for caving to the Democrats.

During the Rose Garden announcement, President Trump thanked all Americans for bearing with him during the shutdown, and especially federal government employees, many of whom were furloughed yet continued working. President Trump promised to make sure that all backpay would be promptly paid to those employees.

The president called the interim spending bill an opportunity for Republicans and Democrats to come together in a bipartisan fashion and pass a bill that would guarantee the safety of US citizens. The press conference evolved into what was primarily a pitch for President Trump’s proposed wall. He cited Israel as proof that walls do work, and noted the importance and necessity for a wall. Trump said the porous border is being abused by drug smugglers and human traffickers, as well as transnational gangs, such as MS-13. He said the crisis at the border poses a serious national security threat and it is vital to stop it. He went on to note a long list of statistics showing the severity of the national security crisis. Trump argued that the sheer volume of illegal immigrants is straining the legal immigration system to the breaking point, and that diseases being brought by the immigrants pose a health crisis as well.

President Trump said that the situation at the border makes the United States an international laughingstock, and called on Congress to update and revise the nation’s immigration laws to combat the influx of illegal immigrants.

The president’s greatest duty is to keep the United States safe, and the president said that he would not give it up to cartels, traffickers, and drug smugglers. Trump said he believes crime rates would be reduced significantly if the southern border would be secured, and that drug usage would also be greatly positively affected.

Trump ended the announcement by saying that Congress must reach a satisfactory agreement by February 15th or he would shut down the government yet again or use his executive authority to declare a national emergency and use his presidential powers to unilaterally fund the building of a barrier.