President Donald Trump proposes to deploy troops to US-Mexico border until wall is built

Trump today proposed to deploy military along the US-Mexico border until a wall is built there to prevent entry of illegal immigrants into the country.

US President Donald Trump (File | AP)

WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump today proposed to deploy military along the US-Mexico border until a wall is built there to prevent entry of illegal immigrants into the country.

During a White House meeting with Baltic leaders, Trump said he has been discussing the idea with Defence Secretary Jim Mattis.

"We are going to be doing things militarily. Until we can have a wall and proper security, we're going to be guarding our border with the military," he said, describing the move as a "big step".

"We really haven't done that before, or certainly not very much before," said Trump, who had promised to build the wall along the Mexican border during his presidential campaign.

"But we will be doing things with Mexico, and they have to do it. Otherwise I'm not going to do the NAFTA deal. NAFTA's been fantastic for Mexico, bad for us. We've had our car plants moved to Mexico, many of them. We make tremendous numbers -- millions of cars in Mexico that, years ago, didn't exist," Trump said.

The US is currently renegotiating North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) with Canada and Mexico. Trump has threatened to withdraw from NAFTA if it does not protect American interests.

Trump also warned Mexico to halt the passage of thousands of migrants, many from Honduras, who had been marching in a caravan along roadsides and train tracks in the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca.

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"If you look at the caravan of thousands of people coming across, I told Mexico, look, you have a cash cow in NAFTA. NAFTA's been great for Mexico. Has not been good for the US," he said.

"A lot of businesses have closed down because of NAFTA. You look at empty plants all over the place. And this is from years ago; they still haven't recovered. NAFTA's been a terrible deal for the United States. We're renegotiating the deal right now, but it'll still be good for Mexico and for Canada," Trump said.

VIEW GALLERY: President Donald Trump wants United States military to secure US-Mexico border until wall is built

"And when this caravan of people coming in, in this case, from Honduras. If it reaches our border, our laws are so weak and so pathetic. Like, we have no border, because we had Obama make changes. President Obama made changes that basically created no border," he said.