Trump, Scaling Back Wall Goal to 800 Miles, Wants Troops on Mexico Border

WASHINGTON -- Frustrated by Congress' refusal to provide funds for more than a modest length of border wall, President Donald Trump declared Tuesday that he will deploy U.S. troops to the frontier with Mexico.He also dramatically scaled back his demand for barrier along the border, saying he wants just "700 to 800 miles" of wall -- a fraction of the nearly 2,000-mile border.The White House and Pentagon did not immediately provide details of the military deployment Trump envisions, leaving key questions unanswered: how many troops, how heavily armed they would be, their mission, or how success will be defined."Until we can have a wall and proper security, we are going to be guarding our border with the military. That's a big step," Trump said during a White House visit with the leaders of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia. "We cannot have people flowing into our country illegally, disappearing, and by the way never showing up for court."Militarizing the border would likely escalate tensions with Mexico, which is in the midst of a presidential campaign in which a leading candidate has vowed to ensure that his country is no longer a "piñata" for foreign powers. Trump has been threatening to scrap NAFTA both to secure more favorable trade terms and to pressure Mexico to curb the flow of its own citizens and migrants from Central and South America.But Trump's inability to deliver on his signature campaign promise has left conservative backers deflated and the president himself openly flustered. Gov. Greg Abbott has already deployed Texas National Guard to the border, and state troopers, as he noted on Monday via Twitter.   Continue reading...