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The White House • November 26, 2018

Watch live tonight At 7:50 p.m. ET, President Donald J. Trump will join a roundtable in Mississippi on the historic, bipartisan criminal justice reform bill he backed on November 14. The FIRST STEP Act will reform America’s prisons to make our communities safer and our justice system fairer. Nearly all incarcerated Americans will one day leave prison. The goal of this legislation is simple: to make sure they don’t return. Watch President Trump’s roundtable live at 7:50 p.m. ET. Need to know: Why President Trump supports criminal justice reform The situation at America’s border Yesterday, U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents and officers effectively and professionally managed an extremely dangerous situation involving more than 1,000 individuals who sought to enter the United States illegally. CBP was forced to close the San Ysidro Port of Entry (POE) near San Diego, California, to ensure public safety and security. The POE remained closed for about 5 hours. After attempting and being prevented from entering, a group of migrants tried to breach legacy border fence infrastructure and sought to harm CBP personnel by throwing projectiles. Four agents were struck by projectiles—most likely rocks—but were wearing protective gear and did not suffer serious injuries. As they dispersed a violent crowd, CBP made more than 60 arrests. Of the thousand or so protestors involved, only a handful of minors were present. The vast majority of participants were single male adults. Both American and Mexican officials say these actions are not consistent with peaceful asylum seekers. On Friday, Tijuana Mayor Juan Manuel Gastelum declared a humanitarian crisis in his city, which he said was struggling to accommodate the influx. “No city in the world is prepared to receive this,” he said. U.S. Border Patrol leaders have made clear that a wall is needed to preserve law and order. “One thing we saw that we could absolutely use yesterday was infrastructure,” Border Patrol Chief of Law Enforcement Operations Brian Hastings said. “That infrastructure was breached yesterday. We are repairing it now, but without a doubt, we could use a wall in an area like that.” President Trump: No one gets a free pass to enter America illegally. Big picture: How our weak asylum laws make everyone worse off Photo of the Day Official White House Photo by Andrea Hanks First Lady Melania Trump reviews Christmas decorations in the Cross Hall of the White House | November 25, 2018 ed the Southern Border In The Daily Signal, Fred Lucas explains the precedent behind the Trump Administration's recent efforts to protect our southern border. “Presidents Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan both closed the border over drug-related issues that halted entry from Mexico into the United States,” Lucas reports. “With Nixon in 1969 and Reagan in 1985—as is the case today—the United States was trying to pressure the Mexican government’s law enforcement into stepping up its efforts.” Click here to continue reading. “President Donald Trump is correct on nationalism,” Boris Epshteyn writes in USA Today. Not only has putting America first on the world stage produced real wins for the country, but “being a nationalist is to correctly believe that America is a beacon of freedom and is the greatest country in the world. These are sentiments all Americans should want to get behind.” "President Donald Trump and I both saw the devastation of the fire on our recent trips to California: piles of rubble recognizable as houses only by their chimneys and charred appliances, and vehicles melted to the pavement in pools of molten aluminum. We also saw the heroism of firefighters, first responders and volunteers working together to battle the blaze and help the community," Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke writes. A senior official in the U.S. Border Patrol backed up President Trump’s call for a border wall following a dangerous incident near the San Ysidro Port of Entry this weekend. "Absolutely,” Brian Hastings told The Hill when asked if agents wanted a wall. “It’s important to note that we have 2,000 arrests per day besides the caravan. That's everyday business right now for us. We're very busy. This caravan just adds another component or another challenge to what we do daily.” "The new version of the First Step Act, endorsed by President Trump last week, is that rarest of Washington happenings: a compromise bill that actually raises the bar rather than settling for the lowest common denominator," workforce development expert Brent Orrell writes for the American Enterprise Institute. The bill will bring "reforms that serve the twin goals of justice and rehabilitation.” President Trump Delivers Thanksgiving Message to America’s Military "President Trump thanked members of the military stationed abroad in Afghanistan and elsewhere for their service during the Thanksgiving holiday," Marisa Schultz reports in the New York Post. “You are doing an incredible job,” the President said in a teleconference. "A lot of progress has been made and your courage truly inspires us all. We know what you are doing. We watch it.” Click here to read more.  "For eight years under President Obama, the growing burden of government suppressed the economic recovery that should have followed the recession of 2008-09. Mr. Obama nonetheless has claimed responsibility for today’s boom, asking Americans in September to 'remember when this recovery started,'" Andy Puzder, former CEO of CKE Restaurants, writes in The Wall Street Journal. "Yet it wasn’t until President Trump took office that the economy surged.”  In Fox News, SBA Administrator Linda McMahon writes that things are better than ever for America's small businesses. "The reason? A strong economy and record level consumer optimism. The unemployment rate is at its lowest level in almost 50 years and consumer confidence is at its highest level in 18 years." "President Trump was right to order troops to our border with Mexico to reinforce our overworked law enforcement officials and protect our sovereignty," Retired Army Brig. Gen. Anthony J. Tata writes in Fox News. "No amount of leftist protestations should distract us from the fact that the primary purpose of our military is to provide security to America. And that’s exactly what the men and women in our military are doing."