Trump Wants To Negotiate The Price Of The Border Wall Down

By Susan Wright | 12:00 PM on February 11, 2017

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FILE - In this Jan. 4, 2016 photo, a U.S. Border Patrol agent drives near the U.S.-Mexico border fence in Santa Teresa, N.M. Can Donald Trump really make good on his promise to build a wall along the 2,000-mile U.S.-Mexican border to prevent illegal migration? Whats more, can he make Mexico pay for it? Sure, he can build it, but its not nearly as simple as he says. (AP Photo/Russell Contreras)

If you’re a Trump apologist, desperately contorting yourself to explain how when Trump said he’d build a wall and make Mexico pay for it, he actually meant the American taxpayers would foot the bill, but that Mexico would “pay” for it in other ways, and that was all part of the master plan, then you’ll probably feel some relief over the latest from Trump.

On Saturday morning, the president took to Twitter to give an update on the magical, mystical border wall.

I am reading that the great border WALL will cost more than the government originally thought, but I have not gotten involved in the…..

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 11, 2017

…design or negotiations yet. When I do, just like with the F-35 FighterJet or the Air Force One Program, price will come WAY DOWN!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 11, 2017

I seriously have no idea why “wall” was capitalized, there.

According to a Reuters report, the wall could cost the taxpayers around $21.6 billion, as opposed to the $12 billion Trump initially reported.

Also from the report:

The wall would actually be a series of fences and walls covering more than 1,250 miles by the end of 2020, the report said, citing internal Homeland Security Department figures.

The one thing that only gets a cursory mention is personnel.

No walling or fencing will ever be successful, without enough personnel and the right policy in place.

That’s what I really want to hear more of.

Will their be aviation assets monitoring the border? How many agents will be on the ground, and how close to the wall will they be? Will they be armed for their protection, with something more than bean bags or rubber bullets? Will the policy be catch-and-release, or catch, detain, vet, then deliver back to Mexican authorities?

To paraphrase now-Energy Secretary Rick Perry: Without personnel in place, if you build a 30-foot wall, the 35-foot ladder business gets real good.

I want to hear more than the wall rhetoric.

We need to secure the border, but it has to start with a better plan than just a wall.