Politics

Here’s Trump’s Plan For Getting Mexico To Pay For The Wall

FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP/Getty Images

Saagar Enjeti White House Correspondent
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President Donald Trump plans to use Mexican concessions in ongoing NAFTA negotiations to pay for his proposed 18 billion dollar border wall, he told The Wall Street Journal in an interview.

“They can pay for it indirectly through NAFTA,” Trump explained, adding “we make a good deal on NAFTA, and, say, I’m going to take a small percentage of that money and it’s going toward the wall. Guess what? Mexico’s paying.”

The president added that negotiations over NAFTA would continue after Mexico’s presidential election in July 2018.

Trump has been insistent throughout his presidency and campaign that Mexico will, in some form, pay for a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. He most recently told reporters at Camp David Saturday, “I believe Mexico will pay for the wall. I have a very good relationship with Mexico… Mexico will pay, in some form, Mexico will pay for the wall.”

In the interim, Trump has requested requested approximately $18 billion for the wall. The proposed wall will install fencing on 316 miles of the U.S.-Mexico border and bolster security along the other 407 miles. The $18 billion appropriation will also go towards hiring more border security agents.

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