WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said he will deliver a primetime address on “the humanitarian and national security crisis on our southern border,” as he uses the power of the presidential bully pulpit in the impasse with Democrats over the funding of a border wall.
It’s unclear whether the broadcast networks will cede a primetime bloc for the speech, which is scheduled for 9 p.m. ET on Tuesday. Some were said to still be considering their approach to the White House request for airtime.
Cable news networks are expected to air the address, which Trump will deliver from the Oval Office. Fox News and CNN have each confirmed that they will show it.
Trump is also planning a visit to the border on Thursday, but exact details have not yet been announced.
As Trump has amped up his public campaign for border wall funding, news organizations have grappled with how to put his statements in context or to fact check in real time. For instance, during a news conference on Friday, Trump claimed that predecessors in the White House had told him that they would have supported a border wall, but that was contradicted by spokespersons for the living ex-commanders in chief. Democrats have also disputed Trump’s claims of a “crisis” at the border.
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Still, it would be difficult for broadcasters to deny the airtime, particularly given the pushback from the right and the inevitable comparisons to the times that such pre-emptions were granted to Trump’s predecessors.
“I don’t know how you walk past this one if you are a news organization, when the president is speaking at a moment like this,” Frank Sesno, director of the School of Media and Public Affairs at the George Washington University, told CNN. He is the former chief White House correspondent for the network.
Democrats have refused Trump’s request for $5.6 billion to fund the initial construction of a concrete or steel structure. Construction of a border wall was a centerpiece of Trump’s presidential campaign, although he said the government of Mexico would pay for it.
Trump’s demand for wall funding has led to a partial shutdown of the federal government that has so far lasted 16 days. Negotiations over the weekend yielded little progress.
Trump has said one of his options is to declare a “national emergency” to gain funds for the wall from the military budget, rather than by congressional resolution. Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.), chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, told CNN on Monday that while Trump could declare such an emergency, it would almost certainly be challenged in court.