As President Donald Trump praised a new trade deal with Canada and Mexico, he also touted the work his administration has done so far to build a wall along the southern border, despite Mexico's repeated assurances that it would not pay for it.
"We’re doing a lot of work, people don’t realize," Trump told reporters Monday. "I don’t really want to talk about it because I could build it quickly, at one time, which is what I want. But we’ve been building it over the last year and a half, with $3.2 billion."
However, the amount of U.S. taxpayer money Congress has set aside for border barriers is less than what he told reporters.
And despite Trump's insistence, all of the construction projects underway are to replace existing fences, not build new ones.
In an interview with the USA TODAY Network, the man Trump appointed to lead U.S. Customs and Border Protection — the federal agency in charge of securing the border — outlined his plans for future barriers, including his desire to double the amount of fencing along the U.S.-Mexico border, from the existing 650 miles.
"We’re doing a lot of work, people don’t realize," Trump told reporters Monday. "I don’t really want to talk about it because I could build it quickly, at one time, which is what I want. But we’ve been building it over the last year and a half, with $3.2 billion."
However, the amount of U.S. taxpayer money Congress has set aside for border barriers is less than what he told reporters.
And despite Trump's insistence, all of the construction projects underway are to replace existing fences, not build new ones.
In an interview with the USA TODAY Network, the man Trump appointed to lead U.S. Customs and Border Protection — the federal agency in charge of securing the border — outlined his plans for future barriers, including his desire to double the amount of fencing along the U.S.-Mexico border, from the existing 650 miles.
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