WASHINGTON (AP) – President Donald Trump says the number of military troops deployed to the U.S.-Mexican border could reach 15,000 – roughly double the number the Pentagon said it currently plans for a mission whose dimensions are shifting daily.
The Pentagon says “more than 7,000” troops are being sent to the Southwest border to support the Customs and Border Protection agents. Officials say that number could reach a maximum of about 8,000 under present plans.
The troop numbers have been changing at a dizzying pace, with Trump drawing a hard line on immigration in the lead-up to the midterm elections.
Trump’s new troop estimate caught the Pentagon by surprise. Later, he told ABC News, “We have to have a wall of people.”
