Amidst a government shutdown over the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) budget and debates in Congress regarding the 'SAVE America Act,' U.S. President Donald Trump vowed that the Republican Party would maintain a firm stance on border security and election integrity, targeting the Democratic Party.

President Trump made these remarks to reporters aboard Air Force One on his way back to Washington on the 16th (local time).

He accused the Democratic Party of using the DHS budget negotiations to extract concessions that would weaken law enforcement agencies and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

President Trump stated that he did not agree with some of the Democratic Party's demands regarding the DHS budget, saying, "We will protect law enforcement. We will protect ICE."

He claimed, "This is a shutdown led by Democrats, and it has nothing to do with Republicans. They are unhappy because crime rates are too low," he asserted.

The Democratic Party has put forth over a dozen new demands in the DHS budget to curb the administration's extensive crackdown on undocumented immigrants.

Meanwhile, they are attempting to cut the DHS budget using the unfortunate incident where two protesters were fatally shot in Minnesota during a crackdown on undocumented immigrants, while also filibustering the 'SAVE America Act' passed by the House of Representatives.

Some analysts believe that the Democratic Party's strategy of linking the issue of cracking down on undocumented immigrants with measures to ensure only citizens can vote will ultimately backfire on them.

President Trump championed the 'SAVE America Act,' emphasizing the requirement of voter ID and proof of citizenship in federal elections.

President Trump told reporters, "Democrats are very unhappy with the move to introduce voter ID. Ninety-eight percent of the people want voter ID."

He accused the Democratic Party of opposing the voter ID bill for political reasons.

"They don't want voter ID because they are trying to commit fraud in elections," Trump said.

This strongly suggests that the opposition to cracking down on undocumented immigrants and the opposition to voter ID are connected.

Trump asserted that proof of citizenship is a key element of the bill and that Democrats are blocking it, stating, "One of the things they demand is proof of citizenship."

"Democrats do not require proof of citizenship. They also do not want to present voter ID," he added.

The President further claimed that stricter election safeguards would fundamentally change the political landscape, arguing, "If they change those policies, they will never be elected. With voter ID, that is, proof of citizenship, Democrats will never win an election."

"And they know it. That's why they're fighting so desperately," he added.

This points to the persistent claims made by President Trump and his supporters for a long time that election fraud has indeed occurred. Among those who believe in election fraud theories, there have been strong allegations that undocumented immigrants were allowed to vote or that the borders were opened to create more Democratic votes.

For this reason, the Republican Party has long argued that voter ID and citizenship verification measures are essential to secure elections and restore public trust in the electoral process.

Meanwhile, the Democratic Party has argued that such measures risk disenfranchising eligible voters.

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NNP=Hong Seong-gu, Editor-in-Chief / Special Correspondent for this newspaper NNP info@newsandpost.com