Donald Trump hints at declaring emergency to get wall funding

Ahead of the State of the Union (SOTU) address, United States President Donald Trump on Friday once again threatened to declare a state of emergency to secure funding for his proposed US-Mexico wall.

The Hill quoted Trump as saying, "I think there's a good chance we'll have to do that (declare emergency)." While talking to reporters in the Cabinet Room of the White House, Trump hinted that he may divulge more details about his plan to build the wall in Tuesday's SOTU address.

He said that people should "listen closely" to his speech. Lambasting a bipartisan conference committee debating wall funding, Trump said that it is a "waste of time", predicting that the Democrats would pay a price for opposing the wall.

"I don't think it's good politically. I think [Speaker] Nancy Pelosi [D-Calif.] should be ashamed of herself because she's hurting a lot of people," Trump said.

The US President had previously threatened to impose an emergency to get the wall - which is one of his long-standing electoral promises - built.

"If we don't get a fair deal from Congress, the Government will either shut down on February 15 again - or I will use the powers afforded to me under the laws and the Constitution of the United States to address this emergency. We will have great security," Trump had put forth while announcing the stop-gap measure to temporarily reopen the government for three weeks.

There has been immense push-back from the Democrats over the construction of the wall, with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi calling it a "waste of money" and an "immorality". Trump, backed by most Republicans, however, has pressed on for the wall to be built, leading to the stalemate which triggered the 35-day long partial shutdown.