WASHINGTON－US President Donald Trump's strategy for the border with Mexico includes mobilizing the National Guard, the White House said on Tuesday, after Trump had earlier spoken publicly to reporters about "guarding our border with the military" to stop illegal immigrants until his "big, beautiful wall" is erected.

The White House statement was released after Trump met with Defense Secretary James Mattis, Attorney General Jeff Sessions and other officials on border issues. It gave no details on whether or when Trump's strategy might be implemented.

The National Guard, part of the US military's reserve forces, has been used in recent years for surveillance and intelligence on the border, but not direct law enforcement.

The president's earlier remarks sharpened his recurring anti-immigration rhetoric. He said he wanted to deploy US military forces until his long-promised border wall is built.

Trump railed against a "caravan" of Central American migrants traveling from the Mexico-Guatemala border in the last 10 days toward the United States.

On Tuesday, Mexican Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray said the caravan had "dispersed gradually". Mexican officials had said that Trump exaggerated the caravan's importance to renew pressure on Mexico over the renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement.

After 14 months in office, Trump still hammers regularly on an anti-immigration theme that helped to energize the conservative Republican voters who helped him win the presidency in the 2016 election. Trump took a hard line on illegal immigration during the campaign and has also sought to curtail legal immigration.

His efforts have thus far failed to produce a comprehensive overhaul of America's immigration laws or full funding for his border wall in the Republican-led Congress. No major legislation was expected before November's congressional elections.

REUTERS/AP