Former President Donald Trump is expected to be disappointed with the border deal that bipartisan Senate negotiators have struck, according to Republican Senator Rick Scott. Scott told conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt that the bill pairing border enforcement measures with Ukraine aid does not include any mention of the border wall that has become synonymous with Trump since his 2016 presidential campaign. During the Trump administration, the United States built 458 miles of the wall. On the first day of his presidency, Joe Biden signed an executive order immediately halting its construction. Scott replied that there was no funding for the border wall in the bipartisan negotiations. The bill text is expected to be unveiled in the coming days.
Trump has loomed large over the Senate deal, threatening to sink any potential deal and ramping up pressure on Republican leaders. A Quinnipiac poll released in October found that the majority of voters, 52%, support the building of a wall at the southern border. Opinions on the construction of a wall were largely split along party lines, with 91% of Republicans supporting the wall and 78% of Democrats opposing it. Independents were divided, with 51% in favor of the wall and 46% against it.
Trump’s influence on the Senate talks appears to be powerful, with House Speaker Mike Johnson calling the deal “dead on arrival” and Oklahoma Republicans voting to censure GOP Senator James Lankford over his role as a lead negotiator on the bill. Scott has refuted claims that Trump is influencing congressional Republicans, describing the former president as “irrelevant to this conversation” because he is not currently in office.
