Friday morning, President-elect Donald Trump kicked the hornet’s nest again by tweeting about his plan to build a wall along the United States’ southern border with Mexico, as well as his plan to have our southern neighbors pick up the tab.
He even threw in a jab at the “dishonest” liberal mainstream media, too.
“The dishonest media does not report that any money spent on building the Great Wall (for sake of speed), will be paid back by Mexico later!” he tweeted.
Shortly following the tweet, one of Trump’s top advisers, Kellyanne Conway, went on FOX News Channel to further explain: The incoming Trump Administration is exploring ways construction of the wall can begin with existing legislation, which may require some initial appropriation from Congress. However, as Trump has repeatedly pledged, Mexico will reimburse those expenses through a number of potential means, including:
- trade tariffs,
- visa fees and
- forcing Mexico to negotiate payment for the wall by tightening controls on remittance payments by Mexican workers back to their families, and redefining rules on wire transfers to require customers to prove they are legally in the U.S.
During the Friday-morning press briefing, incoming White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer didn’t give any indication of what the up-front cost might be to U.S. taxpayers, or how long it may take for Mexico to repay the total cost of the wall.
“It may take a little time to figure that all out,” he said. “In the meantime, we will continue to work with Congress to develop the plan for building the wall and making Mexico pay for it.”
Spicer also noted that the confirmation process continues for most of Trump’s Cabinet-level nominations. In response to media reports that Senate Democrats may attempt to stall those confirmations, Spicer pointed to the confirmation process President Obama faced in 2009.
“Seven of his appointees were confirmed on Jan. 20, the day he took office,” he said. “Another five were confirmed by the end of the week.” {eoa}
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