Trump Signs Omnibus, Pledges Never to Do So Again

US President Donald Trump speaks about the spending bill during a press conference in the
NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP/Getty

President Donald Trump on Friday held a ceremony to sign the $1.3 trillion dollar omnibus budget, at the same time pledging never to sign such a bill again.

The President commented that no one could read such a massive bill before passing or signing it in the time it was available.

Trump pledged to never sign a bill like this omnibus ever again. He said that nobody read it. “It’s only hours old.”

He added that it’s the second-largest budget ever passed, second only to one signed by President Barack Obama.

Trump said that the bill got so big because “we need to take care of our military.” He added, “Democrats don’t believe in that.”

“We have to get rid of the filibuster rule,” said the president.

“DACA recipients have been treated extremely badly by Democrats,” he added. “We wanted to include DACA in this bill. The Democrats would not do it.”

Trump called on Congress to give him a line-item veto.

Trump then touched on border security as a matter of national defense, “By having a strong border system, including a wall, we are in a position militarily that is very advantageous.”

“This is a downpayment on a border wall system,” said Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen as she stepped up to the podium for a moment. She added that it also funds some other aspects of border security.

“We have many elements in the bill that we wanted,” said Trump. $654.6 billion in discretionary funding for defense. He said it also includes upgrades for nuclear equipment. “Praise be to God that we don’t ever have to use it.” He pointed to money included to upgrade Navy ships that are in disrepair. $10.2 billion for F-35s and more for other specialized military aircraft. He said they are spending a lot of money on “very, very important” missile defense.

The president then added that the bill is funding ICE agents and funding to add more immigration judges.

“Nobody more disappointed than me because it’s so large,” Trump said of the funding. He said it had to be done because of military funding. He thanked members of Congress for “working so hard.” He added, “There are a lot of strings” pulling people in a lot of directions.

“I looked very seriously at the veto,” said Trump, but added that he decided to sign it because of military funding.

Follow Michelle Moons on Twitter @MichelleDiana 

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