Trump says troops to remain at border ‘as long as necessary’

WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump on Saturday defended his controversial deployment of thousands of troops to the US-Mexico border, confirming they would remain in place "as long as necessary".

"We have a tremendous military force on the southern border, we have large numbers of people trying to get into our country," he told reporters at the White House ahead of a visit to California.

"They built great fencing, they built a very powerful fence," he added.

Some 5,900 active-duty troops are now stationed along the border, a contentious deployment in support of civilian forces that Trump ordered ahead of the recent midterm elections.

An additional 2,100 or so National Guardsmen have been deployed to support operations at the border, bringing the total military presence to about 8,000.

Shortly before the midterm elections, Trump announced plans to send up to 15,000 troops as a show of force against the caravans of Central American migrants traveling north to the US. border. House Democrats, who assume the majority in January, plan to investigate whether the order was a waste of resources. According to several current and future members of Congress, the incoming veterans and former diplomats are expected to play an important role in advancing that probe and others expected to focus on military affairs.

“You just have so many more Democrats now who have credibility on national security issues,” said Rep. Seth Moulton (D-Mass.), a Marine Corps veteran who spent the past year urging others with military backgrounds to seek office. “Now we have these amazing veterans who can take on these issues.”

For some, the issue is one of respecting the troops. In their estimation, Trump has failed on that score, despite his professed reverence for the military.

“He likes to pound his chest and talk tough, but he has not served our nation in uniform,” Colorado congressman-elect Jason Crow said in an interview, noting that many troops sent to the border have already logged multiple combat deployments. “ .?.?. They’re going to be spending yet another holiday away from their families in tents without running water.”

Others questioned the logic of using an already overextended military to meet civilian migrants, most of whom are fleeing countries plagued by violence and poverty. A congressionally mandated study determined that the military power of rival nations, including China and Russia, could soon eclipse that of the United States unless more strategic investments are made.

“We’re burdening them over and over again, and I want to know why this is the right thing to do,” said New Jersey congressman-elect Andy Kim, a veteran of former president Barack Obama’s Defense Department and the National Security Agency. Kim said Congress should determine whether Trump had announced the deployment as a political ploy. “I don’t want to see an ounce of politics when it comes to our troops,” Kim said.

Incoming lawmakers also listed the war in Syria, the mission in Afghanistan, and the perennial debate over a new authorization for military force as other areas where they would investigate Trump’s policies and military commitments.

Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.), who is expected to take over as chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, has suggested that Democrats would challenge Trump’s plans to augment spending on nuclear weapons and to establish a Space Force, and scrutinize his attempt to ban transgender troops from serving in the military.

But it’s the president’s caravan response that has emerged as a lightning rod for critics of both Trump’s military policy and his social policies — and the more Trump attempts to justify it, the more resolved Democrats appear to challenge it. In recent days, Defence Secretary Jim Mattis and Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen visited troops stationed along the US-Mexico border, delivering a message of thanks — and also encouraging them to ignore the criticism of their mission. Some Democrats surmise that Trump’s national security leaders are making such demonstrations under duress.