Donald Trump Fundraises Off National Primetime Address Carried By Broadcasters

President Donald Trump will not declare a state of emergency in order to get border wall money from the Department of Defense, his whisperers began telling cable news networks a few hours before his first national primetime address from the Oval Office.

But, his re-election campaign is fundraising off the address, in which he will discuss the border “crisis” and his government shutdown.

Trump, in an email sent to his base Tuesday afternoon, asked for donations to his “Official Secure the Border Fund” through the Trump Make America Great Again Committee. That’s a joint fundraising committee for the Trump campaign and the RNC.

“We need to raise $500,000 in ONE DAY,” the email reads. “I want to know who stood with me when it mattered most so I’ve asked my team to send me a list of EVERY AMERICAN PATRIOT who donates to the Official Secure the Border Fund,” stated the Trump-signed memo. “Please make a special contribution of $5 by 9 PM EST.”

Trump is scheduled to give his 8 minute-ish speech at 9 PM EST.

“I wouldn’t be speaking to you tonight if this wasn’t one of the most critical times in the history of our country. I need you to step up,” the fundraising email says.

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Mirroring a they’re-coming-to-kill-us-from-the-south re-election campaign ad Trump’s re-election campaign had been running on news networks Tuesday, Trump’s new fundraising email warned, of the southern border, “drugs are poisoning our loved ones, MS-13 gang members are threatening our safety, illegal criminals are flooding our nation.”

“I want to make one thing clear to Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi: your safety is not a political game or a negotiation tactic!” Trump said in his campaign’s fundraising email. The Senate Minority Leader and House Speaker are set to respond to Trump’s address after it wraps.

Trump shut down the government on December 22 because Dems would not cough up $5.6B for his border wall. It is, as of Tuesday, the second longest government shutdown in U.S. history.

White House counselor Kellyanne Conway got asked about the fundraising letter Tuesday, while appearing on Harris Faulkner’s Fox News Channel program. Conway declined to comment, explaining she had not seen it “and here at the White House I’m not meant to be political.”

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