During a signing ceremony in the Oval Office Tuesday, President Donald Trump somewhat defensively insisted that his proposed U.S.-Mexico border wall will indeed be built.
“The wall is gonna get built, folks, in case anyone has any questions,” he said when asked about it. “We’re gonna have the wall built and the wall is going to stop drugs and it’s going to stop a lot of people from coming in that shouldn’t be here.”
Trump added, “It’s going to have a huge effect on human trafficking, which is a tremendous problem in this world — a problem that nobody talks about, but it’s a problem that’s probably worse than any time in the history of this world.”
The president took the opportunity to brag a little bit about the effect his administration is already having on illegal immigration.
“We’re setting record numbers in terms of stopping people from coming in and stopping drugs from coming in,” he said. “You see the numbers down, 73, 74 percent.”
He also complimented his secretary of Homeland Security, Ray Kelly, for doing “an incredible job” and related what Kelly had told him during a recent meeting: “We definitely desperately need the wall.”
“So we’re going to have the wall built,” he repeated, complaining that he’s been watching morning news shows that seem to suggest otherwise. Those pundits “don’t know what they’re talking about,” he said. “The wall gets built — 100 percent.”
Asked when construction would start, Trump answered, “soon,” promising that it will be built in his first term.
“We have plenty of time,” said Trump, adding “we’re already preparing, we’re doing plans, we’re doing specifications and we’re doing a lot of work on the wall.”
The president made the comments after signing an executive order directing his new agriculture secretary, former Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue, to identify and eliminate unnecessary regulations.
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