President Trump on Friday threatened to cut foreign aid to Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador, accusing the Central American countries of “doing nothing for the United States but taking our money.”
{mosads}”Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador are doing nothing for the United States but taking our money,” Trump tweeted.
“Word is that a new Caravan is forming in Honduras and they are doing nothing about it. We will be cutting off all aid to these 3 countries – taking advantage of U.S. for years!”
This is not the first time that Trump has threatened stop providing foreign aid to countries he says are not doing enough to stop migrant caravans from forming. In October he said that “no more money or aid will be given to Honduras” if a migrant caravan was not stopped.
Trump has made illegal immigration a key focus of his presidency. Leading up to the 2018 miderms he focused heavily on a migrant caravan moving toward the U.S. from Guatemala, labeling it as an “invasion” that would bring crime and drugs across the Southern border.
Reducing foreign aid to the countries would require congressional approval through the appropriations process, which would be unlikely with Democrats retaking the House majority in January.
The U.S. gave $180 million to Honduras, $257 million to Guatemala and $118 million to El Salvador in aid in 2017, according to data from the U.S. Agency for International Development.
Trump’s threat came at the end of a string of tweets where he threatened to close the U.S.-Mexico border if he doesn’t get funding for his border wall.
The president’s comments come on the seventh day of a partial government shutdown with no end in sight.
The shutdown began on Saturday after Democrats rejected demands from Trump that $5 billion for the wall be included in a measure to keep the government open.