WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday he will make a “dramatic” statement about the country’s southern border with Mexico either later on Thursday or on Friday.

He told reporters the statement would be his biggest on the issue to date and would be about people crossing the border illegally.

“This is a big-league statement, but we are going to do something very dramatic on the border,” Trump said, adding he was not closing the border.

Trump has made immigration a cornerstone of his presidency after promising on his election campaign trail to build a wall along the U.S. border with Mexico.

Still, he has struggled to win enough support from lawmakers in the House and Senate to change immigration policy or to garner funds to build the wall.

In February, he declared a national emergency on the border with Mexico in order to access funds to build the wall. But last week, a federal judge blocked some of the funds Trump had sought to use for construction of the wall.

(Reporting by Steve Holland; Writing by Makini Brice; Editing by Bernadette Baum)