Trump issues first veto on bill to block his border wall national emergency

President Donald Trump issued his first veto Friday, rejecting Congress’s effort to cancel his declaration of a national emergency to pay for a wall on the US-Mexico border, a centerpiece of his 2016 campaign.

“Congress passed a dangerous resolution that, if signed into law, would put countless Americans in danger,” Trump said just before signing the veto in the Oval Office, where he was joined by family members of crime victims and law enforcement officials.

The measure -- which cleared the Senate with support from a dozen Republicans -- dealt a political setback to the president by seeking to block his effort to free up additional federal funds for the wall. But the Senate vote Thursday and the House vote last month were well short of the support needed to override Trump’s veto.

The Senate measure marked the second rebuke of Trump by lawmakers in as many days. On Wednesday, the GOP-controlled chamber passed a measure seeking to withdraw US military support for the Saudi-led military campaign in Yemen.