President Trump has reportedly sent 1,500 troops – the first of a planned 10,000 – to the U.S. Southern border while reportedly considering withdrawing 20,000 troops from Europe.
According to the Associated Press: “Acting Defense Secretary Robert Salesses said the troops will fly helicopters to assist Border Patrol agents and help in the construction of barriers. The Pentagon also will provide military aircraft for Department of Homeland Security deportation flights for more than 5,000 detained migrants. The number of troops and their mission may soon change, Salesses said in a statement. ‘This is just the beginning,’ he said.”
On Wednesday, the Trump administration signed an executive order that “suspends the physical entry of aliens engaged in an invasion of the United States through the southern border.” This means that he has authorized the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Justice, and the Department of State “to take all necessary action to immediately repel, repatriate, and remove illegal aliens across the southern border of the United States.”
Withdrawing troops from Europe will free them up for this assignment if indeed, this is just the beginning. The President has said that he’d like Europe to take a larger part in their own security rather than rely on U.S. forces. In a meeting between French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Macron reportedly said: “Now that the new administration has taken office in the US, it is more important than ever for Europeans… to play their full part in consolidating a united, strong, and sovereign Europe.”
