President Donald Trump has repeated the campaign rallying cry that Mexico will pay for a border wall along the U.S.-Mexico border since at least 2015.Earlier this week in a meeting with Democratic leaders Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi,
Trump claimed that he would “shut down the government” on Dec. 21 over border security if Congress does not approve $5 billion in funding for a border wall.
Following his heated demands, the president defaulted to his talking point that Mexico will pay for the wall, in a tweet on Thursday morning. Trump pointed to a new USMCA deal between the U.S., Mexico, and Canada and
said, “MEXICO IS PAYING FOR THE WALL!”
The president has made the claim on Twitter, in interviews, and at press conferences and campaign rallies at least 20 times since April 2015.
In April 2015,
he said on Twitter that the U.S. would build the border wall and “deduct costs from Mexican foreign aid.” Just days later, he
made the same demand in a tweet, while also
peddling a false story about ISIS operating training camps near El Paso, Texas.
During his
presidential announcement speech on June 16, 2015, Trump said, “I will build a great, great wall on our southern border. And I will have Mexico pay for that wall.” Trump has fired up his supporters with the anti-immigrant talking point at a number of campaign rallies and in the press since then.
In August 2015, the Trump campaign
released its position on immigration reform. Part of the platform was titled, “Make Mexico Pay For The Wall.” During an appearance with CBS’s Face theNation, Trump
doubled down on that policy, and said, “And, by the way, Mexico will pay for it. It’s going to be a great wall,” he added, because “I know how to build.”
In a tweet in January 2016, Trump praised political commentator Ann Coulter—who has
platformed white nationalist talking pointsto her audience—and again said Mexico would pay for the wall.