Unfazed by a congressional deal giving him only $1.3 billion for a barrier on the US-Mexico border, President Donald Trump is saying he found twenty times that much for overall border security “from other sources.”
Details of the “compromise” negotiated by congressional Democrats and Republicans ahead of the February 15 deadline have not yet been made public, but information leaked to the media suggested the Democrats have offered only $1.375 billion, and explicitly prohibited a concrete wall.
The wall is “being built as we speak,” Trump tweeted on Tuesday evening, after being briefed on the deal by the “hard working Senator Richard Shelby,” the Alabama Republican chairing the Senate Appropriations Committee.
Between the deal and “lots of money from other sources,” Trump said, his administration will be getting “almost $23 billion” for border security, enough to fund much of the proposed border wall and other improvements intended to crack down on illegal crossings.
Also on rt.com 'Bad' border deal welcomed by 'Swamp', but Trump seems unconcerned“We’re going to build a big, beautiful strong wall,” he said earlier in the day, speaking with reporters at the White House. “I never kid about construction. I love construction, and I know how to do it for the right price.”
Reporters on the ground in El Paso, Texas – where Trump held a big campaign-style rally on Monday evening – posted photos of construction crews erecting a barrier made of steel slats where only a chain fence existed before.
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