Donald Trump told The Daily Mail that he is willing to use the military to build the border wall along the southern border.
President Donald Trump said Friday that he’s considering using military resources to finish construction of his long-promised border wall instead of relying on Congress to fund the project through the Homeland Security Department’s budget.
He also wouldn’t eliminate the possibility of a government shutdown if Democrats continue to confound his efforts to appropriate money for the project on the U.S.-Mexico border.
‘We have two options,’ he told DailyMail.com aboard Air Force One as he flew from Billings, Montana to Fargo, North Dakota. ‘We have military, we have homeland security.’
He was asked specifically about using the Army Corps of Engineers as a taxpayer-funded construction crew.Â
Trump said he would prefer to fund the ambitious construction ‘the old-fashioned way – get it from Congress – but I have other options if I have to.’
He’s seeking about $25 billion.
The possibility of diverting Pentagon funding and assets to build a border wall is a hole card the president is holding but has never directly acknowledged before.
Two Defense Department officials told DailyMail.com in August that the Army Corps of Engineers could take on the task.
‘They build levees that hold back massive walls of water,’ one said of the agency. ‘They can build one to hold back drugs and human traffickers.’
The White House appears headed for another confrontation with Congress over an increase in funding for the project after securing $1.6 billion for 2007 and the same amount for this year.
This would be a huge smack in the face of the Mainstream Media and establishment Republicans. The border wall has long been mocked about his promise to build a border wall along the southern border even though walls have been proven to work around the globe.
Mexico could end up paying for the wall through the renegotiated Trade Deal with the United States.
WATCH:
BOOM! Trump considering using military to build border wall https://t.co/z630Sn4sxn
— Jacob Palmieri (@jakepalmieri) September 8, 2018
