President Donald Trump recently threatened to shut down the government if Congress didn’t move forward on funding one of his most talked-about campaign promises: his border wall.
“We’re gonna get our wall,” Trump said to applause at his much-criticized speech in Phoenix last week. “Believe me, if we have to close down our government, we are building that wall.”
Trump has repeatedly said that, despite the exorbitant expected price tag for his border wall, the cost would be offset by Mexico paying for it.
The only problem? Mexico has said they won’t pay for it. Repeatedly.
Here’s what you need to know:
- Still on Trump’s mind: On Sunday, Trump repeated his claim that the Mexico would pay for the wall in a tweet. “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,” Trump tweeted.
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
- But…: Following Trump’s tweet, Mexico’s foreign ministry poured cold water on Trump’s dream of a Mexico-funded border wall, saying they would not pay for it “under any circumstances.” The statement reads: “As the Mexican government has always stated, our country will not pay, under any circumstances, for a wall or physical barrier built on US territory along the Mexican border. This statement is not part of a Mexican negotiating strategy, but rather a principle of national sovereignty and dignity.”
- So who would pay for it?: Since Mexico has bluntly and repeatedly said that they would not pay for Trump’s border wall, it would fall on the American people to foot the bill. Trump has implied that Congress should include funding for the wall in a spending bill that must pass by the end of September and assume that the country’s southern neighbor will eventually pay the United States back for it, Politico reports.
- In other news…: While Mexico says it won’t pay for a border wall, its government has offered to help Texas deal with the catastrophic effects of Hurricane Harvey, which continues to cause devastating flooding across the southeast area of the state, the Dallas Morning News reports.
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