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Donald Trump Talked About The Border An Awful Lot At The State Of The Union

by Chelsea Stewart
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It's no surprise that President Trump is all about his border wall with Mexico, but during the Feb. 5 State of the Union, he kept saying "wall." And saying it... And saying it. So just how many times did Trump say "wall" at the State of the Union, you ask? Let's just say he hit double-digit territory.

In fact, he uttered the word a total of 10 times and said the word "border" a total of 14 times, per a transcript from Vox (although one mention of a wall wasn't actually about the border. It happens). He mostly used the terms while stressing the need for border security and calling for Democrats to give him the $5.7 billion he's repeatedly asked for to build his long-promised wall, which Trump has said will fix what he calls a "humanitarian and security crisis." During the address, he once again painted a picture of drugs and violence at the border, saying that "ruthless coyotes, cartels, drug dealers, and human traffickers" are pouring into the country, per Vox, without acknowledging the many people who are fleeing their countries from poverty and violence. "In the past, most of the people in this room voted for a wall — but the proper wall never got built. I’ll get it built," he declared.

Breaking his hour-and-24-minute speech down by subject, Axios noted that large chunks — more than one-fifth of the meat of his speech — were focused on immigration, the wall, or crime (which was frequently portrayed as immigration-related).

As you probably know already, Democrats have firmly stated that they are only willing to give him $1.3 billion for border fencing and barriers, but the president has been trying to force their hands. He's offered to extend protections for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program in exchange for wall funding, which Democrats have said is a no-go, and threatened to keep the government shutdown for "years" unless his request is met. Trump has even been considering some options to go around them, such as declaring a national emergency and pulling funds meant for disaster aid to finance the wall, but those are reportedly still up in the air. The White House did not return Elite Daily's request for comment on the reports that Trump is considering circumventing Congress to get funding for his wall.

Aside from the border wall drama, the president also discussed job growth, criminal justice reform, declining drugs prices and more. If you weren't able to tune in, you can read his speech here. Then check out all the hilarious memes you missed.

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During the 2018 State of the Union, the president also did something repeatedly: He couldn't stop clapping for himself. As he discussed immigration reform, touted African American employment rates (which actually started under President Obama), talked tough on North Korea and glossed over his infrastructure plan, he kept giving himself rounds of applause. Oh, and he did it straight into his microphone.

While he didn't do that this year (thank goodness), his speech itself was subject to quite a reaction, especially from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. During most of his address, she was seen with a less-than-thrilled expression on her face, not to mention the hilarious moment when she got up and sarcastically clapped for him. People couldn't stop talking about it on Twitter.

Ironically, this is the very same reaction I had hearing him say "wall" time after time during his Feb. 5 address. And you can bet he won't be slowing down with his use of the word until his wall is built — if it ever is. Better brace yourself, folks.