PRESIDENT Donald Trump has defended his decision to sign a $1.3 trillion (£900 billion) federal spending bill despite his misgivings, pointing to billions in new funding for the military and national security.
Trump said on Twitter that because of the added military funding, “many jobs are created and our Military is again rich”.
He says building his signature border wall “is all about National Defence”.
The president sought $25bn (£18bn) for his border wall, but the plan includes only $1.6bn.
The president tweeted that it is “just a down payment” and the “rest of the money will come”.
Conservatives have criticised the president for signing the giant budget bill and the president said on Friday he was disappointed with the package, but needed to sign it to fund the military.
Meanwhile, Trump has insisted that “many lawyers and top law firms want to represent me in the Russia case”, following a shake-up of his legal team.
Attorney John Dowd, who has been involved in negotiations with special counsel Robert Mueller over the scope and terms of an interview with the president, is leaving the Trump’s legal team.
Trump said he is “happy” with his legal team and that there was “no collusion” with the Russians.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here