White House Frustrated Trump lashes out after border defeat 'People that should have stepped up did not step up,' an ornery Trump told reporters. 'They didn't step up and they should have.'

President Donald Trump met his day of defeat with a list of grievances.

He lashed out at Congress for denying him the money to build a border wall. He called his Democratic rivals liars. He blasted former Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan for inaction when the GOP controlled Congress. And, of course, he criticized the media for alleged bias and indifference to a “crisis” on the U.S.-Mexico border.


In short, Trump blamed almost everyone but himself as he formally announced he was going around Congress to direct more than $6 billion to construct or repair as many as 234 miles of a border barrier.

“People that should have stepped up did not step up,” an ornery Trump told reporters in the Rose Garden. “They didn’t step up and they should have. ... We are stepping up now.”

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Trump’s state of emergency declaration — which is certain to trigger vigorous legal challenges — comes after he came up far short on the $5.7 billion demand that has defined his presidency for months and led to a 35-day government shutdown that even many annoyed Republicans blamed on the president.

Instead, Trump reluctantly agreed to sign a massive spending deal that included just $1.375 billion for border security Friday, averting another government shutdown.

“I didn’t need to do this, but I’d rather do it faster,” he added. “I want to get it done faster, that’s all.”

The messy outcome left the president in an agitated state. “It’s all a big lie,” he railed. “It’s a big con game.”

Though he often uses prepared remarks and a teleprompter for formal remarks at the White House, on Friday he ad-libbed for 45 minutes, veering from such topics as trade talks with China to an upcoming meeting with North Korea’s leader to the length of talk radio host Rush Limbaugh’s monologues. Even before officially announcing the declaration, he took a winding path through several other topics for about 15 minutes.

Trump even vented frustration that his Democratic predecessor, Barack Obama, was given the Nobel Peace Prize — “He was there for about 15 seconds and got the Nobel prize” — while he will likely never get one for the current administration’s work with North Korea.

“With me, I probably will never get it,” he said wistfully.

To try and erect the border barrier, the White House will seek to redirect $3.6 billion from a military construction fund, $600 million from a Treasury Department drug forfeiture fund and $2.5 billion from a Pentagon drug prevention program. The national emergency declaration is being used to tap the largest pot of money — the $3.6 billion earmarked for military construction.

“It’s an all-of-the-above approach,” said a person close to the White House. “He always knew Congress was never going to give him the money he needed.”

Trump, who said he was forced to make the move because there was “an invasion of our country with drugs, with human traffickers, all types of criminals and gangs.” He invited families of Americans killed by undocumented immigrants to join him in the Rose Garden and hold up photos of their slain loved ones.

He insisted he wasn’t building a border wall because it was his signature campaign promise in 2016 or because he is running for reelection in 2020. But a moment later, he said he was doing just that.

“I don’t have to do it for the election. I have already done a lot of wall for the election 2020.” he said. “And the only reason we are up here talking about this is because of the election, because they want to try to win an election, which it looks like they will not be able to do.”

After his remarks, Trump invited questions from the media. But, as often happens during one of his news conferences, the back-and-forth turned into a sparring match, with Trump interrupting reporters and instructing at least one of them to sit down.

He called on CNN’s Jim Acosta, who temporarily had his credentials yanked by the White House last year, but then told him the question was politically motivated.

“You are CNN. You are fake news,” Trump said. “You have an agenda.”

He told another reporter he was “very disappointed at certain people, a particular one, for not having pushed this faster.” When NBC’s Kelly O'Donnell quickly asked whether Trump was referring to former Speaker Ryan, who left Congress last month. He replied: “Let’s not talk about it.”

Trump’s border wall strategy is sure to appease his conservative base, which has been clamoring from Trump to win the border security funding he has vowed to obtain, though the reaction on Friday was somewhat muted.

When he was asked what role outside conservative voices had played in his decision, Trump complimented Fox News personality Sean Hannity — “terrific supporter of what I do” — and Limbaugh — “he has one of the biggest audiences in the history of the world.”

As expected, Democrats were swift to denounce the move. Immediately after Trump spoke, California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, said the state plans to sue over the emergency declaration.

“Our message back to the White House is simple and clear: California will see you in court,” the governor, a vocal Trump critic, said in an emailed statement.

Democrats on Capitol Hill also announced they would challenge the move on an array of fronts.

“The president’s actions clearly violate the Congress’s exclusive power of the purse, which our Founders enshrined in the Constitution,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said in a statement. “The Congress will defend our constitutional authorities in the Congress, in the Courts, and in the public, using every remedy available.”

The Democratic House is likely to pass a resolution of disapproval to block Trump’s move, which can be brought to the Senate floor and passed by a simple majority under procedural rules. If four Senate Republicans join all Democrats, the measure would be sent to Trump, who would be forced to issue a veto.

Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia swiftly sent a letter to acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan asking for a list of all the projects that would be affected by Trump’s national emergency declaration, as well as “an assessment of the risk to servicemembers if these projects are terminated.”

Trump said Friday he was aware his emergency declaration will face numerous challenges, including a court fight. He predicted the matter would go all the way to the Supreme Court but forecast ultimate victory, citing the legal battle his administration waged over a travel ban for people from certain Muslim-majority countries. The administration was eventually able to get a third version through the courts after two previous attempts were blocked.

“We will then be sued," Trump said in a sing-song tone. “And we will possibly get a bad ruling, and then we will get another bad ruling, and then we will end up in the Supreme Court, and hopefully we will get a fair shake and win in the Supreme Court, just like the ban.”

While Trump’s conservative base is largely supportive of Trump’s emergency declaration, numerous Republicans on Capitol Hill have been privately and publicly urging Trump to avoid such a step, fearful that use of such powers could propel a future Democratic president to take the same step on climate change or gun violence.

“I don’t believe a national emergency declaration is the solution,” said Republican Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina. “It would likely get tied up in litigation, and most concerning is that it would create a new precedent.”

Inside the White House, aides had been worried that an emergency declaration would set a dangerous precedent — but acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney pushed back against that notion.

“It actually creates zero precedent,” Mulvaney insisted on Friday in a call with reporters. “This is authority given to the president under law already.”

Since 1976, presidents have declared 58 national emergencies, including two that deal with money. One was declared during the the Iraq war in 1990, and another was invoked after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

The funds Trump will get from Congress are part of a $328 billion spending bill that lawmakers swiftly passed Thursday to avoid a federal government shutdown before a midnight Friday deadline. The package's $1.375 billion for border security will go toward 55 miles of physical barrier along the southern border in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas.

White House staffers held a conference call with supporters earlier Friday, telling them construction will begin in Texas and not California, where Trump will face a lawsuit from Democratic state leaders, according to someone familiar with the call.

A senior administration official told reporters that its ultimate goal is to repair or build barriers along at least 234 miles of the border.

“We are in the process to make sure that we can make those dollars go as far as they possibly can,” the official said. “And we expect that they will be able to go farther than 234 miles.”

After 45 minutes of remarks, Trump announced he would not answer more questions. Just before he left the Rose Garden, he turned to his new attorney general, William Barr, who was seated in the front row on his first full day on the job.

“Enjoy your life, Bill,” he said.

Marianne LeVine contributed to this report.