In a Thursday morning appearance on Fox & Friends from the southern border of the United States, President Trump boasted that new wall was being built at a steady clip, despite objections from congressional Democrats.
In an interview with Fox News reporter Ed Henry, the president flatly dismissed Democratic claims that border wall construction was a “fantasy.”
“This was not here two weeks ago,” Trump described as he pointed up and down miles of newly constructed barrier fencing. “This is all brand new wall … we’re building on many different sites all up and down the border.”
Pointing out a “double wall” that was built in the location that bordered Tijuana in Mexico, Trump claimed that they tested the fortitude of the wall with “championship mountain climbers” and others, none of whom were able to penetrate the barrier.
“People aren’t even coming up,” Trump said of a recent throttle in migrants illegally crossing at the southern border. “You see the numbers are going way down and we’re not doing a catch and release anymore.” Reports indicate that arrests at the southern border have decreased by 60% since May of this year.
“We wish we had help from the Democrats in Congress,” Trump said after detailing miles of border wall being built by other contractors in other locations. Pushing back on claims that Republicans had also failed to act on border wall building while in control of both chambers of Congress, Trump claimed that the necessity for a full two-thirds in the Senate stopped progress as the GOP maintained only a narrow majority. “We didn’t get the votes,” the president said.
