Trump invokes first veto

WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump has issued his first legislative veto since taking office, overruling Congress to protect his declaration of a national emergency to secure funds for a wall on the US border with Mexico, western media reported.

Trump vetoed the resolution passed by the US Senate on Thursday to reject his declaration of a national emergency. The bill passed the Senate by a margin of 59-41 with 12 Republicans joining Senate Democrats in a rare rebuke of the president. The bill had passed the House in February with thirteen congressional Republicans crossing the aisle to join Democrats.

In the Oval Office at the White House on Friday afternoon, Trump said “our immigration system is stretched beyond the breaking point” and called the congressional action “dangerous” and “reckless”. The president had threatened a veto of the resolution. It is unlikely that Congress will have the two-thirds majority required to override Trump’s veto.