President Donald Trump hinted on Sunday that the controversial omnibus bill included funds that could be used to build the border wall — for the purpose of national security.
The president tweeted “Building a great Border Wall … is all about National Defense. Build WALL through M!” he wrote “M”, referring to the military, which just received a massive spending boost.
Because of the $700 & $716 Billion Dollars gotten to rebuild our Military, many jobs are created and our Military is again rich. Building a great Border Wall, with drugs (poison) and enemy combatants pouring into our Country, is all about National Defense. Build WALL through M!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 25, 2018
On Monday, White House Press Secretary Hogan Gidley explained that he did not want to comment on Trump’s tweet, suggesting that an official announcement could soon be coming from the president on allocating the money.
On Sunday morning, the president tweeted that the $1.6 billion given to build and fix the current border wall was “just a down payment.”
Much can be done with the $1.6 Billion given to building and fixing the border wall. It is just a down payment. Work will start immediately. The rest of the money will come – and remember DACA, the Democrats abandoned you (but we will not)!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 25, 2018
The border wall was a pillar of Trump’s president campaign. The estimated cost is roughly $20 billion, and Gidley claimed that the spending bill is only a “starting point,” to pay for the wall.
“[Building a border wall] is something the president ran on, one of the reasons I think he got elected,” Gidley said. “He understands that walls work.”
At the White House signing ceremony for the spending bill, Trump touted, “National defense is a very important two words. Because by having a strong border system, including a wall, we are in a position, militarily, that is very advantageous. ”
In other words, the military will build the wall using the fund allocated to it by Congress.
Clever.
–The Horn editorial team