*Administration of Donald J. Trump, 2019 *

**Remarks in an Exchange With Reporters **

*January 6, 2019 *

*The President.* You haven't had enough. You haven't had enough.

*Border Security *

*Q. *[*Inaudible*]—Pelosi and Schumer today, sir?

*The President.* So we've been in touch with a lot of people, and I informed my folks to say that we'll build a steel barrier. Steel. It will be made out of steel. It will be less obtrusive, and it will be stronger. But it will be less obtrusive, stronger, and we're able to use our great companies to make it, by using steel.

So—and we're going to be doing a steel barrier, and that gives us great strength at the border.

*Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) *

*Q. *[*Inaudible*]—DACA at all?

*The President.* I would consider DACA, but I think we'd complicate it. I'd rather have the Supreme Court rule and then work with the Democrats on DACA. I want to help with DACA, but I'd rather have—because, you know, it's going to be before the Supreme Court very soon. And rather than doing something with DACA now, frankly, I'd rather work with the Democrats. Let the Supreme Court rule first.

*Border Security *

*Q. *[*Inaudible*]—calling it a national emergency. What exactly does that—[*inaudible*]?

*The President.* No, we're looking at a national emergency, because we have a national emergency. Just read the papers. We have a crisis at the border of drugs, of human beings being trafficked all over the world. They're coming through. And we have an absolute crisis, and of criminals and gang members coming through. It is national security. It's a national emergency.

*Q. *[*Inaudible*]

*The President.* We'll be letting you know fairly soon.

*Border Security *

*Q. *If you were to declare a national emergency, how would you pay for the wall? Where would the money come from?

*The President.* Well, we have a lot of different ways. I'm not going to get into that. I'm just saying, we are looking at it very strongly, but hopefully, we can do it this way. And as I told you, it's going to be a steel border, and that's going to give us great strength.

*Border Security *

*Q. *Why do you think the Democrats would agree to a steel border? *The President.* They don't like concrete, so we'll give them steel. Steel is fine. Steel is actually——

*Q.* [*Inaudible*]

*The President.* Steel is actually more expensive than concrete, but it will look beautiful, and it's very strong. It's actually stronger.

*Federal Employees/Border Security *

*Q. *You said Government workers should make an adjustment if they miss their checks. What does that look like——

*The President.* I think they will make an adjustment because they want to see the border taken care of. You know, Government workers want to see the border taken care of. It affects them very dearly.

*Q. *But most of them make $500 a week. That is, they don't have a lot to make an adjustment with.

*The President.* They love our country, and they want to make sure that we have a strong border.

*Q. *What do you say to the Americans——* *

*Federal Employees *

*Q. *[*Inaudible*]—most of them are Democrats, sir?

*The President.* Say it?

*Q. *You're saying that most of the people are Democrats—[*inaudible*].

*The President.* I don't know if Democrats or not. Probably, in this case, a lot of them are Democrats. You have a lot of Republicans too. But regardless—I mean, that's the way it is. Those people are great Americans. They're great patriots. They want to make sure we have a strong border. It's very important.

*Q. *What about childcare and other—[*inaudible*]?

*The President.* Well, we're looking at everything.

*Border Security *

*Q. *What do you say to Americans who are concerned about—[*inaudible*]?

*The President.* It'll all work out. What we need is we need a strong border. We have criminals coming in. We have human traffickers coming in. We have drugs pouring in. We have things happening that you don't want to even know about. And it's been that way for decades, and we can't have it anymore. And because of the strength of our economy—the stronger it is—it's probably the greatest economy we've ever had. And because of that, it's happening even more so. We have to stop it.

Thank you, everybody. Have a good day. Thank you.

NOTE: The President spoke at 2:47 p.m. on the South Lawn at the White House upon returning from Camp David, MD, via Marine One. A reporter referred to Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi; and Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer. *Categories:* Interviews With the News Media : Exchanges with reporters :: White House*.*

*Locations: *Washington, DC.

*Subjects:* Communications : News media :: Presidential interviews; Defense and national security : Border security; Drug abuse and trafficking : Foreign narcotics traffickers; Economy, national : Improvement; Government organization and employees : Funding lapse and partial furlough; Immigration and naturalization : Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) policy, review; Immigration and naturalization : Illegal immigration; Judiciary : Judicial review; Law enforcement and crime : Trafficking in persons, efforts to combat; Law enforcement and crime : Transnational criminal organizations; Mexico : Border with U.S., infrastructure and security.

*DCPD Number:* DCPD201900007.