Deploys 5,200 troops for "invasion" by migrant caravan as midterm election stunt

One week before the November 6 midterm elections, Trump ordered the deployment of 5,200 active-duty troops to the southern border in "Operation Faithful Patriot" to stop a caravan of Central American migrants he characterized as an "invasion." The caravan of about 3,500 asylum seekers was still hundreds of miles away in Mexico and posed no military threat, but Trump tweeted "This is an invasion of our Country and our Military is waiting for you!" The deployment was widely criticized as political theater designed to inflame anti-immigrant sentiment before the election, with the Pentagon acknowledging it saw no threat from the caravan. After the election, Trump immediately stopped talking about the caravan. The deployment ultimately cost an estimated $220 million in taxpayer funds for what military officials privately acknowledged was a political stunt rather than a legitimate security operation.

"This is an invasion of our Country and our Military is waiting for you!" — October 2018 tweet about Central American migrant caravan one week before midterm elections