Donald Trump to Release Immigration Plans in September, Still Wants to Build the Wall
Donald Trump still leads the Republican field of presidential hopefuls going into late summer, and he has decided to wait until September to release details of his presidential platform, starting with immigration.
Trump has gained support from staunch conservatives among the Republican party's base throughout the summer, in large part because of his harsh take on immigration, particularly the relationship, and the border, between the U.S. and Mexico, where Trump still promises to raise a wall.
According to the Washington Post, Trump has been in consultation with Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions, the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee's subcommittee on immigration and a Tea Party voice on the matter.
"I like him," said Trump to the Washington Post regarding Sen. Sessions. "Tough guy. I like that. We have a similar thought process."
The result of that meeting between the two staunch anti-immigration politicians will be on display next month. Trump told WaPo that he is waiting until September to release papers detailing his positions and propositions on issues he promises to tackle if elected president.
"My immigration paper, my tax paper -- they're pretty much done. But I don't want to do them in August," said Trump. "I'll wait until September, when everyone is back, in all fairness," he continued. "We'll release a number of them. We'll start with immigration and then we'll do tax. Those will be the first two."
Trump's planned release of his agenda on at least those two issues coincides with the build-up to the second Republican debate in mid-September, a sign that Trump believes his position in the race will remain at least strong enough to be included in the second major GOP event.
For those waiting on Trump's detailed positions with bated breath, the billionaire real estate mogul and celebrity candidate offered a few details about what his priorities would be, including his now famous promise to "build a wall" between the U.S. and Mexico for cheap.
Part of his immigration paper will reportedly be focused on first ending regulations, including environmental standards, which could impede Trump's massive construction project, a proposal that Trump claimed had more support from more stripes of political spectrum than most were prepared to admit.
"If you look back, everybody, most of the Democrats, they desperately wanted the wall built," Trump told WaPo in an interview. "They liked the concept of a wall. But they couldn't get it built."
Trump went on, "You know one of the reasons they couldn't build it? The environmental impact statements. They couldn't get through because of the environment. Well, that's what I'm the king of -- I can get things built for half-cost, for one-fourth cost, and it'll be better."
Speaking with the Washington Post, Trump didn't detail whether or not he still plans to "make Mexico pay" for the wall, as he's previously stated.