President Trump claimed the Democratic Party is secretly supportive of a massive caravan of Honduran migrants walking from Central America's Northern Triangle to the United States' southern border because they are future liberal voters.

"As you know I’m willing to send the military to defend our southern border if necessary, all because of the illegal immigration onslaught brought by the Democrats because they refuse to acknowledge or to change the laws. They like it. They also figure everybody coming in is going to vote Democrat," Trump said to a crowd gathered at a Thursday night rally in airplane hangar in Missoula, Mont.

"They wanted that caravan and there are those that say that caravan didn't just happen. It didn't just happen," Trump said.

The president's statement comes a day after Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., posted a video on Twitter that appeared to show members of the caravan getting cash. Gaetz said the footage needed to be investigated because it looked like an outside source was paying people to travel by foot to through Guatemala, Mexico, to the U.S. border. Gaetz's claim has not been confirmed.

[Related: Trump: Democrats don't win elections because 'negative' on military, law enforcement, border security]


Various news reports have cited 2,000 to 4,000 Hondurans and Guatemalans are walking to the Mexico-Guatemala border in hopes of entering the country and walking to the U.S. border. A group of 160 people left Honduras last Saturday and arrived in Guatemala on Monday.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection had previously shared with the Washington Examiner that the average trip from a Northern Triangle country to South Texas takes about a month.

Trump said Thursday evening he was to blame for foreigners wanting to come to the U.S., even doing so illegally.

“I will say, I have caused the problem. I’m taking full blame. You know why? Everyone’s like in shock. And look fake news, it’s my problem, I caused it because I have created such an incredible economy. I have created so many jobs. Everybody wants to come in so they’re all pouring in or trying to,” Trump said.

Trump has urged Mexico to stop the caravan before it gets to America's southern border. Mexico deployed hundreds of additional federal immigration officers and police to the state of Chiapas on Tuesday.

Chiapas is one of two Mexican states that border Guatemala. Federal officials believe the Honduran group will try to enter Mexico from the state’s 200-mile international border.

Mexico’s Interior Ministry warned Saturday it will only allow those granted visas to cross into the country. Those in the caravan would have had to have applied for visas at the Mexican consulates in Honduras. Mexico is the only Central American country that requires its neighbors to obtain visas in order to enter.

The caravan is the second major group of Central American citizens to migrate to the U.S. this year following one this spring.

DHS previously told the Washington Examiner that smugglers often bring small groups of less than a dozen people from Central America, then hold them in towns just south of the U.S.-Mexico border. Then, they will lead 100-200 people over at once.

Trump on Tuesday threatened to suspend all financial aid to Honduras if the president did not stop the group from leaving, though they had already crossed into Guatemala by then. He made the same threat in April.

Honduras leads the world as the country with the highest murder rate. The country is home to 8.25 million people and has reported 90.4 murders for every 100,000 residents, according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.