President Donald Trump threatened Thursday to call up the U.S. military and close the border with Mexico over migrants, as he met with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo amid the disappearance and suspected murder of a Saudi journalist.

BORDER THREAT

On Twitter, Trump said if Mexico isn’t able to stop an “onslaught” of Central American migrants from reaching the U.S., “I will call up the U.S. Military and CLOSE OUR SOUTHERN BORDER!”

Trump has ramped up his rhetoric about border security this week, calling the subject a “great issue” for Republicans with the Nov. 6 midterm elections fast approaching. The president raised the prospect of using the military to secure the border back in April as well. His threat comes as a so-called caravan of Central Americans is traveling north with apparent plans to reach the U.S. border.

Opinion:Trump’s immigration policies threaten your Social Security

Also read:How America’s top CEOs are spending their own money on the midterm elections.

POMPEO MEETING

Trump met with Pompeo after the secretary of state’s return from Saudi Arabia and Turkey.

After their meeting, Trump tweeted that the U.S. was “waiting for the results of the investigations” by those countries into journalist Jamal Khashoggi’s disappearance. Later, the president told reporters it “certainly looks” like Khashoggi is dead and said there would be “severe consequences” for Saudi Arabia if it is responsible. Saudi rulers are considering blaming an intelligence official close to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for the killing of Khashoggi, the New York Times reported.

Speaking to reporters outside the White House, Pompeo said he told Trump the U.S. should give the Saudis “a few more days” to complete their probe, “at which point we can make decisions about how or if the United States should respond.” The secretary didn’t specify a hard deadline.

Also see: In final column, Khashoggi laments ‘Arab governments have been given free rein’ to silence media

And read:Mnuchin to skip Saudi conference as U.S. weighs more time for Khashoggi probe.

PRE-EXISTING CONDITIONS PLEDGE

Trump also revived attacks against Democrats over Medicare, saying his opponents would “destroy” the program and that all Republicans “support people with pre-existing conditions.” He added, “if they don’t, they will after I speak to them.”

Trump didn’t explain what he meant by supporting such people. Last week, the Washington Post’s fact-checker noted Trump’s support for plans that would have weakened protections for pre-existing conditions.