Trump orders military to take control of federal land at southern border

He wrote it could include "border-barrier construction and emplacement of detection and monitoring equipment."

"Our southern border is under attack from a variety of threats," Trump wrote in the memorandum. "The complexity of the current situation requires that our military take a more direct role in securing our southern border than in the recent past."

The federal land, which consists of a narrow, 60-foot-deep strip at the border within the Roosevelt Reservation, would become a "military installation" designated as "National Defense Areas" where "military activities" would occur. 

The Roosevelt Reservation covers California, New Mexico and Arizona and was designated as federal land by Theodore Roosevelt in 1907 to keep the border secure. 

The memorandum added that the secretary of defense can "determine those military activities that are reasonably necessary and appropriate to accomplish the mission" of keeping the border secure.