A Recent Trump Tweet Wavers On His Promise That Mexico Will End Up Paying For That Wall

Donald Trump campaigned on a number of different platforms, but none summed up the man and his candidacy better than his unwavering, constant pledge to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border to curb illegal immigration and smuggling. Since the “bad hombres” were entering the United States and not leaving, Trump deemed it appropriate that Mexico would pay for this hypothetical wall.

Of course, Trump being Trump, he was a little light on the specifics of how he would urge, compel, or force Mexico to write a check for his monument to xenophobia.

It’s clear, 100 days into the Trump presidency, that the wall has gotten little traction from both a logistical standpoint and from the court of public opinion. In fact, the only update as to the planning of the wall was the notice that the White House had issued a request for proposal for engineers and contractors to, uh, figure this whole wall thing out.

Here was the guidance the White House gave in the wall’s development:

Now, it seems that even Trump, who can make himself the hero or victim of most any turn of events, is waffling on the pledge that Mexico is going to pony up for this thing.

Here’s what Trump fired off bright and early Sunday morning:

Let’s ignore the first tweet, as we all know there are more efficient and effective ways of curbing our nation’s drug and gang problems than with a $21.6 billion wall that takes 3.5 years to construct.

As for the second tweet, it’s pretty clear that Mexico will not be paying cash, up front or at any time, for this metaphorical slap in the face. What Trump may be referring to when he says “in some form” is a levied tariff against goods produced in the country and imported to the United States. Of course, Mexico produces a lot of stuff for both American companies and Americans that would ultimately result in the cost simply being passed through to American entities and citizens.

It took Trump about a year to realize that Mexico wasn’t going to gift him a wall, so with that big epiphany out of the way, hopefully, subsequent realities about the border wall will come to him a little quicker.