Presented By

President Donald Trump gave his first primetime address from the Oval Office on Tuesday night to pitch his border wall to the American public.

The address came amid a partial government shutdown in its third week – with no clear end in sight.

During his address, Trump called the flow of migrants across the U.S.-Mexico border a crisis and said $5.7 billion was needed to build the wall and fund additional security measures. He called on Democrats to support to wall and end the shutdown.

Democrats, led by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, have refused to support funding the wall. They reiterated their opposition to the border in a speech following Trump’s address.

TIME has a fact-check of many of Trump’s assertions about immigration.

Read the full transcript of Trump’s Oval Office address below:

More Must-Reads From TIME

Write to Gina Martinez at gina.martinez@time.com.

You May Also Like
EDIT POST