OnPolitics Today: 'I told them to consider it a rifle'

FROM WASHINGTON AND BEYOND

Thursday, November 1

Migrants -mostly Hondurans- taking part in a caravan heading to the US, begin their day at a temporary shelter in Juchitan, Oaxaca State, Mexico, on Oct. 31, 2018. President Donald Trump kept up the pressure on Mexico on Wednesday to halt groups of migrants heading to the American border, as the US enters the final stretch of campaigning before key midterm elections. Trump ordered thousands of troops to the southern border and threatened to end automatic citizenship for US-born children of immigrants.

Trump suggests migrants be shot if they throw rocks

Also on Thursday: The VA moves ahead on deadly dog experiments, and a Trump official praises Brazil's far-right leader as "like minded."

Today's subject line: President Donald Trump, on how he told the U.S. military to react if members of a migrant caravan approaching the U.S. border throw rocks at them.

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Trump suggests migrants are cop killers and that the military is ready to shoot

Trump said Thursday he would unveil a plan to limit claims of asylum in the United States, saying there was "rampant abuse" of the system. But he offered zero details on the proposal. Trump's non-stop focus on immigration ahead of next week's midterms could stir core conservatives toward the polls, but it also could turn off moderates. Track Trump's multiple claims here. Thursday's announcement came as thousands of migrants moved in a caravan through Mexico to seek asylum at the U.S. border.

Describing a clash between Central American authorities and the caravan, Trump suggested the U.S. military would shoot migrants who threw rocks at them. "Our military fights back," Trump said. "I told them to consider it a rifle."

Trump also this week released a massively controversial campaign ad suggesting that cop killers could be among the throng of migrants fleeing poverty and violence in Central America.

Tweet of the day

A tweet from @anarayan1995.

Twitter / @anarayan1995

"Just when i thought the VA couldn't get much worse.." - a tweet from user @anarayan1995, after USA TODAY found documents indicating Veterans Affairs is pushing forward with invasive and ultimately fatal experiments on dogs as part of the VA's medical research program.

Bolton praises leader who supports supports dictatorship, torture

Jair Bolsonaro, Brazil's newly elected far-right president, has said he supports dictatorship and torture, and he has used harsh rhetoric in talking about homosexuals, women, and minorities. On Thursday, National Security Adviser John Bolton fully embraced Bolsonaro, calling his win a "positive" sign for the future of Latin America and dubbing him a "like-minded" leader with whom Trump could work.

Elsewhere in politics

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•	Donald Trump, Xi Jinping discuss U.S.-Chinese trade battle