Abbott said he was proud to endorse the former president, who is the favorite to win the Republican Party’s presidential nomination for 2024.
Good will | Trump served meals to Texas National Guard soldiers and state police stationed at the border
Donald Trump received the endorsement of the governor of Texas during a visit to a community located on the border between the United States and Mexico and promised that, during his second term as president, his tough immigration agenda will make “Greg Abbott’s job” easier.
“You can focus on other things in Texas,” Trump told Abbott in front of about 150 attendees gathered in an airport hangar in Edinburg.
Abbott, a longtime ally of his with his tough stance on immigration, said he was proud to support the former president, who is the favorite to win the Republican Party’s presidential nomination for 2024.
“We need a president who will strengthen the border,” Abbott said in the town located about 30 miles (48 kilometers) from the Hidalgo border crossing. “We need Donald J. Trump back as our president of the United States.”
Trump previously served meals to Texas National Guard soldiers and state police stationed at the border: “They don’t need to be here at this time. They should be at home.” He added that “the only reason they are here is because we have a president of the United States who is not strengthening our border.”
Trump unveiled immigration proposals that marked a dramatic improvement from the approach he used during his presidency and sparked alarm among civil rights activists and several court appeals.
Although the former president has included his immigration plans in his campaign speeches, he made only a brief mention on Sunday. He spoke for about 10 minutes with state police helicopters, a plane and a patrol boat in the background, all vehicles used in Texas at the border.
Trump did not detail the policies he would pursue if he returned to the presidency. Although he complains about inflation, the US withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021 and media coverage. He noted that most technologies other than walls or cars eventually become obsolete.
“What we need are walls. And they work,” he said.
His plan includes building more walls along the border.
Trump made many trips to the border as a candidate and president. During his 2016 campaign, he visited Laredo, Texas, in July 2015 for a tour where he highlighted how his stance on immigration helped him attract press attention and the support of the Republican Party.
The border has also become a central part of Abbott’s agenda and the subject of a growing spat with the federal government over immigration. The three-term governor approved billions of dollars to build new border walls, authorized the installation of barbed wire along the Rio Grande — also known as the Grande — and sent thousands of migrants by bus to in cities with democratic governments in different parts of the country.
