Trump says he 'absolutely' still wants Mexico to pay for a border wall
President Donald Trump met with Enrique Peña Nieto, his counterpart from Mexico on Friday. The duo met at the G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany and President Trump said he "absolutely" wanted Mexico to pay for a massive wall along the US-Mexico border.
A reporter asked, "Do you still want Mexico to pay for the wall?"
"Absolutely," the President said, according to a pool report.
The Mexican government has continuously insisted it wasn’t willing to pay for such a wall which was one of Donald Trump’s signature campaign promises.
It would be recalled that a few months ago, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) rejected suggestions that Mexico would pay for the wall. The President hasn’t said much about the proposed wall in recent times and he has come under pressure from some of his supporters for the lack of progress on the wall.
The proposed wall is aimed at controlling the influx of illegal immigrants over the U.S. southern border. During a rally in Iowa last month, President Trump suggested that solar panels will be included on the border wall and that the energy created would allow for Mexico to "pay much less."
A report in June revealed that no contracts had been awarded to construction firms and construction had yet to begin. According to a Customs and Border Protection spokesman, bids are still being reviewed, but that prototype designs “will be selected for construction in summer 2017.”
Yesterday’s meeting was the first between both leaders since last August. It would be recalled that the border-wall issue resulted in the cancellation of a meeting between the pair in January.
"We've all had a very successful day and a very interesting day," Trump said before being asked about the border wall. "It's great to be with my friend the president of Mexico. We're negotiating NAFTA and some other things with Mexico. Let's see how it all turns out. But I think we've made very good progress."
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The Trump administration's enforcement has significantly intensified as ICE is now holding illegal immigrants in courthouses across the United States. The change is expediting the deportation of thousands of people and reversing Biden-era restrictions.