’Trump hits back at John Kelly claiming all concrete border wall was ‘never abandoned

The Independent 2018-12-31 23:44:16

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President Donald Trump has hit back at claims his administration has abandoned its idea of erecting a concrete wall along the US-Mexico border,

In a tweet the president contradicted a claim from his his soon-to-be former chief of staff John Kelly that the White House has long since moved on from the “solid concrete wall” concept.

Mr Trump tweeted on Monday that an “all concrete Wall was NEVER ABANDONED, as has been reported by the media.”

In Mr Kelly’s interview with the Los Angeles Times, published on Sunday, the official said the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents told him—while he was serving as Homeland Security Secretary—that although it needs physical barriers on some parts of the border, it could largely benefit from new technology and additional personnel.

“To be honest, it’s not a wall,” Mr Kelly said, referring to Mr Trump’s campaign promise for a wall.

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“The president still says ‘wall’ — oftentimes frankly he’ll say ‘barrier’ or ‘fencing,’ now he’s tended towards steel slats,” Mr Kelly added. “But we left a solid concrete wall early on in the administration when we asked people what they needed and where they needed it.”

In his tweet on Monday, the president also explained that Border Patrol agents also preferred a wall that is see through in some areas of the border

“Some areas will be all concrete but the experts at Border Patrol prefer a Wall that is see through (thereby making it possible to see what is happening on both sides),” Trump added. “Makes sense to me!”

Recently, Mr Trump claimed the wall would be “see-through” in some parts of the border, and has described the border wall as “fencing,” and said it would be “artistically designed” steel slates instead of concrete.

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The tweets come on the heels of a government shutdown caused primarily by Mr Trump’s $5bn border wall funding request, a demand that has not been able to pass through Congress.

Democrats have offered Mr Trump with $1.3 billion for border security, but has shown no signs that it will give in to the president’s enormous funding request and border wall proposal.

As of Monday, the partial government shutdown reached its 10th day with no sign that it will anytime soon.

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