Trump news: President hints he will shut down asylum process during California border visit

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Donald Trump taunts Biden amid sexual misconduct accusations as two more women come forward to accuse the democrat

Donald Trump has attacked the late former first lady Barbara Bush in a newspaper interview a day after posting a satirical alt-right meme of ex-vice-president Joe Biden on Twitter.

“I see that you are on the job and presidential, as always,” Mr Biden responded to the tweet, which sits pinned to the top of the president’s Twitter profile. The video in question sends up Mr Biden’s apology after he was accused of inappropriate conduct towards women while on the campaign trail, and was circulated by Donald Trump Jr earlier on Thursday.

Mr Trump then made a stop in Calexico, California, to inspect construction work on his US-Mexico wall after rowing back on his threat to close the border, the trip providing a timely change of focus for the president after thousands of protesters campaigned outside the White House and in New York’s Times Square to demand the release of the Mueller report in full.

While in southern California, Mr Trump heard from officials who praised his leadership and promised to build some 400 miles of border wall in the next year and a half.

Mr Trump, during a round table with Border Patrol officials, said that the US has no more room for immigrants — and thanked Mexican officials for what he described as new efforts to stop migrants from making it to the US-Mexico border.

The White House, prior to Mr Trump's visit to the border, hailed the 2-miles of fencing there as the first completed section of the president's border wall.

But, Mr Trump cannot take full credit for the construction: Border barriers have existed there for decades, and plans for the recent renovations first began to develop during the presidency of Barack Obama.

Follow along below for our coverage as it happened

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Key Points

• President lays into Washington Post day after New York Times attack
• Trump en route to California to visit border wall construction site
• Joe Biden hits back after Trump posts alt-right meme spoofing apology
• Trump mocks late first lady Barbara Bush: 'Look what I did to her sons'
• Protesters in cities across US demand release of Mueller report

[5 April 2019 21:10 · Clark Mindock]

A Border Patrol agent just described a pretty wild situation in which an individual threw a rusted lawn mower blade through a border fence and into the vehicle of a female Border Patrol agent.

[5 April 2019 21:12 · Clark Mindock]

Mr Trump just asked how Border Patrol stops "these large, sometimes massive groups of people from just pouring through".

The Border Patrol agent as responded that you "arrest as many as you can".

It's not clear what the point is here, though: Border Patrol statistics indicate that these large groups are generally presenting themselves to US authorities. So, it wouldn't be a scenario where agents are in need of chasing folks down.

[5 April 2019 21:13 · Clark Mindock]

The president just joked about the Mueller investigation: "I know about hoaxes. I just went through a hoax."

[5 April 2019 21:14 · Clark Mindock]

An ICE official says that the US immigration system is being overrun by families entering the US seeking asylum.

He has asked for a bolstered border, and said that ICE needs funding and resources to keep immigrants detained instead of releasing them into the US to await court proceedings.

[5 April 2019 21:15 · Clark Mindock]

Mr Trump was just told that a good amount of fentanyl is seized by ICE, and he responded by saying that a lot of it comes from China.

[5 April 2019 21:23 · Clark Mindock]

Mr Trump is once again hitting on the idea that the US is packed full, and has no more room for immigrants.

"We don't have room," he said.

"When it's full, it's full. You can't take them."

[5 April 2019 21:23 · Clark Mindock]

Representative Kevin McCarthy, the House minority leader, has now been called on by Mr Trump to speak.

[5 April 2019 21:25 · Clark Mindock]

Mr Trump just asked the group whether they think that "chain migration" or the "visa lottery" is the stupidest thing he has ever heard.

[5 April 2019 21:29 · Clark Mindock]

While Mr Trump is in California, White House lawyers have just urged the IRS to resist Democrat demands for the president's tax returns.

[5 April 2019 21:29 · Clark Mindock]

Mr Trump and his convoy are now headed over to take a look at the wall he flew to California to see.