President Donald Trump on Sunday renewed his push to build a wall along the southwestern border, promising yet again that Mexico will end up covering the construction costs.
In a familiar weekend morning tweet-storm, Trump said that a border barrier is more necessary than ever because of Mexico’s drug violence, which over the past two years has risen to its highest levels in two decades.
“With Mexico being one of the highest crime Nations in the world, we must have THE WALL,” the president tweeted. “Mexico will pay for it through reimbursement/other.”
With Mexico being one of the highest crime Nations in the world, we must have THE WALL. Mexico will pay for it through reimbursement/other.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 27, 2017
Since proposing the construction of a wall along the entire 2,000-mile U.S.-Mexico border at the outset of his campaign, Trump has repeatedly promised to force Mexico to foot the bill, either through an unspecified reimbursement deal or taxes on remittances sent by Mexican immigrants in the U.S.
Without an agreement with the Mexican government, Trump has leaned on Congress to appropriate money for the initial phases of construction. During a rally in Arizona last week, Trump threatened to force a government shutdown if Congress doesn’t include funding for the wall in the next spending bill.
“Believe me, if we have to close down our government, we’re building that wall,” the president said to a cheering audience.
Congress has yet to pass an emergency spending resolution to keep the government fully functioning past Sept. 30. The House approved a spending bill in late July that included $1.6 billion for the wall, but pushing that provision past the Senate will likely prove more difficult.
Republicans hold just a slight majority in the Senate, and Democrats could demand that border wall funding be scraped in exchange for their votes on a deal to keep the government open.
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