The Pentagon on Thursday said it has not been given a request to send additional troops to the U.S.-Mexico border after President Trump tweeted earlier that day that he may deploy the military to stop migrants from crossing into the United States.
“Beyond the National Guard soldiers currently supporting the Department of Homeland Security on our southern border … the Department of Defense has not been tasked to provide additional support,” Pentagon spokesman Lt. Col. Jamie Davis said in a statement.
{mossecondads}Trump earlier on Thursday warned that he may take military action to stop immigrants from crossing the southern border into the U.S. if Mexico does not take action to stop what he called an “onslaught.”
“I must, in the strongest of terms, ask Mexico to stop this onslaught — and if unable to do so I will call up the U.S. Military and CLOSE OUR SOUTHERN BORDER!” he wrote as part of a series of early-morning tweets.
The tweets follow news that a migrant caravan of more than 4,000 people is moving north from Honduras toward the U.S. southern border.
Trump in April directed Defense Secretary James Mattis to deploy up to 4,000 National Guard troops to the U.S.-Mexico border, and said they will remain until his proposed wall was built.
About 2,100 guardsmen are currently serving at the border.