Donald Trump Backtracks on Closing Mexican Border, Healthcare Reform

While pressure mounted over the inquiry report on Russian interference in the 2016 elections, US President Donald Trump backtracked on two key issues he had raked up - the imminent threat to close the Mexican border and healthcare reform. Faced with the threat of economic fallout from closing the Mexican border, Trump on Thursday gave a year’s grace period to that country’s leaders to stop the flow of drugs and illegal immigrants to the US. And if they didn’t do it, he warned he would first impose tariffs on cars manufactured in Mexico and other products and consider a border shutdown after that.

In the euphoria of Attorney General William Barr’s statement that report of the inquiry into allegations of collusion between Russia and Donald Trump had exonerated him, Trump plunged into controversial election pledges. The offer of a delay was a big step back from the imminent threat of closing the border that was opposed by members of his administration and his party because disruption would send prices shooting up immediately for vegetables and fruits and shutdown auto manufacturing in the US without parts coming in. A crisis is brewing at the border where several thousand Central Americans have massed waiting to be let in and thousands more are on the way. More than 66,000 illegal immigrants were apprehended in the US by law enforcement in February. On Tuesday, Trump put off healthcare reforms till after the 2020 elections at the urging of his party leaders. Repealing and replacing the healthcare plan known popularly as Obamacare that was introduced by his predecessor Barack Obama was another of his key election pledges that he has revived. (IANS)

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