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Greg Sargent
@ThePlumLineGS
, 4 tweets, 3 min read Read on Twitter
As we wait for Trump to speak, here's a quick rundown of the ways in which his case for the wall has proven flimsy or fallen apart.

First, in Jan 2017, Trump ordered DHS to do a comprehensive study of the border. It has not been released, I'm told:

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/…
Second, the claims that DHS has made about terrorism and the border have fallen apart. And experts have noted that if the administration had classified info that would support its case, it would have been declassified by now:

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/…
Third, the briefing that the White House gave to members of Congress, ostensibly to *inform* them so they could make good policy choices, was full of falsehoods and absurdities. This leaves no doubt about the depths of bad faith here:

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/…
Finally, the anonymous quotes from White House aides and officials are simply incredible. These people say flat out that the wall wouldn't solve the problem as Trump has articulated it, and even admit that it's about symbolism for his core voters:

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/…
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More from @ThePlumLineGS see all

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Greg Sargent
@ThePlumLineGS
We are not in the midst of a conventional negotiation, in which each side is offering concessions in exchange for concessions from the other side.

Here's the basic asymmetry, as clearly as I can explain it:
1) If Democrats agree to what Trump wants, they will have made massive unilateral concessions (the wall) in exchange for Trump doing what *he himself* says he wants to do, i.e., reopening the government.
2) By contrast, if Trump agrees to what Dems want (border security + reopening govt), he will have given up *nothing whatsoever* in concessions.

All he'll be giving up is his ability to use govt shutdown & pain it's causing as leverage to get his way. That's not a concession.
Read 4 tweets
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Greg Sargent
@ThePlumLineGS
Trump may declare a national security emergency to build his wall in part because of its "symbolic power for his core voters."

Yes, that is real:

washingtonpost.com/politics/trump…
It is overwhelmingly obvious that at this point, the wall is nothing but a symbol, a political and even religious totem.

Among white evangelical Christians, the core of Trump's base, support for the wall has soared since he campaigned on it:

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/…
“For white evangelicals who see the sun setting on white Christian dominance in the country, the wall is a powerful metaphor."

That's @robertpjones. He has researched these voters for years.

Trump has a real instinct for tapping into these wellsprings:

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/…
Read 3 tweets
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Greg Sargent
@ThePlumLineGS
The migrant crisis reveals Trump's immigration strategy is failing, an important new NYT report demonstrates.

An anonymous Homeland Security official, and others at the border, confirm what's really happening.

Deterrence through cruelty is a failure:

nytimes.com/2019/01/04/us/…
This is what I've been trying to argue. The right way to describe Trump's handling of immigration is as a massive failure. And the endless lies about this issue illustrate the wrongheaded and sometimes delusional worldview undergirding this failure.

washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-lin…
Here's another revelation from the NYT piece.

Administration insiders *know* that Trump's latest moves to get "tough" on the border will either fail or be unjustifiable to the American people.

But the WH keeps insisting they forge ahead anyway:

nytimes.com/2019/01/04/us/…
Read 4 tweets

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