Trump Backs Down From Border Threat, Says He’s Now Giving Mexico ‘One Year Warning’

After threatening for the past few days that he was going to close the southern border if Mexico didn’t stem the flow of asylum-seeking migrants to America, President Trump backed away from his position and said he was giving Mexico a “one-year warning” on his border threat.

Saying that it hasn’t been reported by the media that Mexico has really stepped up and been “capturing people and bringing them back to their countries at their southern border,” Trump seemed to take credit for this purported action by Mexico and use it as his reason to no longer push for an immediate border closure.

“If we don’t see people apprehended hand brought back to their countries and if we see these massive care advance coming up to our country right through Mexico, coming right through Mexico, like nothing,” he declared. “Buses are even given to them. The last three days it hasn’t happened, since I said we’re closing the border. The only thing frankly better and less drastic than closing the border is tariff the cars coming in and I will do it.”

He continued: “You know I’ll do it. I don’t play games. We want to stop people. We want to give them a one-year warning and if the drugs don’t stop or aren’t largely stopped we’re going to put tariffs on Mexico and products, in particular cars, the whole ball game is cars. That’s the big ball game with many countries, it’s cars. And if that doesn’t stop the drugs we close the border.”

Since threatening to close the border after right-wing media figures like Lou Dobbs and Rush Limbaugh began advocating for it, the president has been warned that a border closure with Mexico would be economically devastating and politically deadly. It would appear he found himself an out today.

Watch the clip above, via CNN.