"Getting ready to lift off for Laredo," Trump wrote. "Will land at 1:OO P.M. Should be exciting and informative!"
Trump's campaign followed up the tweet with a statement from him saying the local Border Patrol agents had been "totally silenced directly from superiors in Washington who do not want people to know how bad it is on the border — every bit as bad as Mr. Trump has been saying." The statement confirmed Trump was still making the trip, "despite the great danger."
As Trump flew to Laredo, former Gov. Rick Perry opened a new front in his war of words with the real estate mogul, pouncing on reports that people working on some of Trump's properties are in the country illegally.
"As a known employer of illegal immigrant labor, Donald Trump’s record on border security is non-existent at best and a farce at worst," Perry said in a statement. "It’s going to take more than a day trip for him to convince the American people he is anything but a hypocrite when it comes to border security."
ADVERTISEMENT 2
ADVERTISEMENT 3
Error: No articles to display
ADVERTISEMENT 1
ADVERTISEMENT 4
Trump Keeps Texas Trip After Union Pulls Out
- Thursday, 23 July 2015 17:57
-
font size
decrease font size
increase font size
LAREDO —
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is still coming to Texas on Thursday, his campaign said, even though a Border Patrol union here backed out of hosting him.
Local 2455 announced early Thursday it would "pull out of all events involving Donald Trump," citing discussions with its national organization. That announcement throws into question Trump's plan to tour the Mexico border.
"Just to be clear, an endorsement was never discussed for any presidential candidate," the union said, reiterating it does not endorse candidates.
Trump, the bombastic billionaire whose candidacy has rattled the 2016 race, said Thursday on Fox News he had been invited to Laredo by "border patrols and they want to honor me."
Asked about the union's decision, a Trump spokeswoman said he was "still going." It was unclear how the the twist would affect Trump's original schedule, which had him flying into Laredo International Airport at 1 p.m. to hold a meet-and-greet with the union before heading to the border.
Later Thursday morning on Twitter, Trump said he still planned to make it to Laredo on time.