'Not my fault': Trump struggles to defend his record amid setbacks on immigration, trade, NK

‘Not my fault’: Trump struggles to defend his record amid setbacks on immigration, trade, North Korea

By David Nakamura, Seung Min Kim and Josh Dawsey March 6 at 6:54 PM

President Trump proclaimed in a freewheeling speech to a conference of conservatives last weekend that “America is winning again.” But his administration has been on a pronounced losing streak over the past week.

Trump is losing ground on top priorities to curb illegal immigration, cut the trade deficit and blunt North Korea’s nuclear threat — setbacks that complicate his planned reelection message as a can-do president who is making historic progress.

Late last week, Trump flew home empty-handed from a summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Hanoi — and, within days, new satellite images appeared to show that the North was secretly rebuilding a rocket-launching site.

On Tuesday, the Department of Homeland Security announced that unauthorized border crossings have spiked to the highest pace in 12 years — despite Trump’s hard-line rhetoric and new policies aimed at deterring migrants.

And on Wednesday, the Commerce Department said that the nation’s trade deficit is at a record high — in part due to punitive tariffs Trump imposed on allies and adversaries. Trump vowed throughout his 2016 campaign and during his presidency to shrink the trade deficit, which he views as a measure of other nations taking advantage of the United States.

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https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/not-my-fault-trump-struggles-to-defend-his-record-amid-setbacks-on-immigration-trade-north-korea/2019/03/06/19ab2ca4-4026-11e9-a0d3-1210e58a94cf_story.html