As Trump Threatens Government Shutdown, What Happened To Mexico Paying For The Wall?

Marina Fang
Updated

WASHINGTON ― After regularly proclaiming that Mexico would pay for his signature campaign promise ― a wall along the U.S. southern border ― President Donald Trump on Tuesday night threatened a government shutdown if Congress refused to find the U.S. tax dollars to build it.

“If we have to close down our government, we’re building that wall,” he said during a raucous campaign rally in Phoenix. “We’re going to have our wall.”

The stunning ultimatum reflects a gradual reversal of course and a further indication of the wall’s unfeasibility. Strikingly, Trump did not broach Mexico financing the barrier in his rally remarks.

Throughout the presidential campaign, Trump’s wall was generally considered an unrealistic proposal that experts estimated would cost as much as $25 billion to construct. (Earlier this year, the Department of Homeland Security reached a similar assessment, placing the wall’s cost at about $21.6 billion and concluding it would take more than three years to complete.)

But Trump nevertheless made the wall a symbol of his campaign, an integral part of the anti-immigrant rhetoric and policy proposals that galvanized many of his supporters.

“Who’s going to pay for the wall?” he regularly shouted at his campaign rallies.

“Mexico!” the crowd responded.

Since becoming president, he has been forced to back down, because — as with many of the other pillars of his campaign — the realities of governing intervened.

Mexico’s president, Enrique Peña Nieto, has repeatedly said that his country rejects the very idea of the wall ― much less paying for it. (Peña Nieto did, however, catch grief for not responding when Trump said Mexico “absolutely” would provide the money for the wall as the two sat together during early July’s G-20 meeting of world leaders in Hamburg, Germany.)

Trump shakes hands with Mexico's President Enrique Pena Nieto during a bilateral meeting at the G-20 summit in Hamburg, Germany, in July. (Photo: Carlos Barria / Reuters)
Trump shakes hands with Mexico's President Enrique Pena Nieto during a bilateral meeting at the G-20 summit in Hamburg, Germany, in July. (Photo: Carlos Barria / Reuters)

Soon after taking office in January, Trump himself conceded that Mexico would not pay, during a Jan. 27 phone call with Peña Nieto.

But according to the leaked transcript of the call obtained by The Washington Post, Trump urged his Mexican counterpart not to discuss it publicly because that would leave Trump in a “political bind.”

“So what I would like to recommend is ― if we are going to have continued dialogue ― we will work out the wall,” Trump told Peña Nieto. “They are going to say, ‘Who is going to pay for the wall, Mr. President?’ to both of us. And we should both say, ‘We will work it out.’ It will work out in the formula somehow. As opposed to you saying, ‘We will not pay’ and me saying, ‘We will not pay.’

“If you are going to say that Mexico is not going to pay for the wall, then I do not want to meet with you guys anymore because I cannot live with that,” Trump added.

Publicly, Trump had all but admitted that U.S. taxpayers would have to foot the bill, while at times claiming Mexico would provide reimbursements. In March, his administration included funding for the wall in its proposed budgets for the 2017 fiscal year ending Sept. 30 and the 2018 spending blueprint.

Trump failed in efforts to keep the funding in the final version of the 2017 budget — but promised that the wall would happen “eventually, but at a later date,” despite there being few viable options for paying for it.

In recent weeks, White House officials have reportedly floated a possible deal with Congress that would link maintaining legal protections for the young undocumented immigrants known as Dreamers with a proposal that includes border wall funding. Democrats this week said any such deal was “a nonstarter.”

Similarly, in response to Trump’s shutdown threat, top congressional Democrats said on Wednesday that they would reject any government funding bill that included money for the wall.

If the issue comes to a head, Republicans would face an uphill battle, as they need Democratic votes to pass a continuing resolution to keep the government open.

Despite the obstacles, Trump is unlikely to abandon at least the idea of the wall, as it energizes his base.

Like clockwork, his campaign released a fundraising email on Wednesday morning calling the wall “non-negotiable.”

“Let’s remind every single Senator the American VOTERS want this beautiful, impenetrable wall constructed,” the email read. “I want to show every Republican Senator a list of American voters that will NOT be happy if the wall isn’t built.”

On Thursday afternoon, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders dodged multiple questions on funding for the wall, insisting that “we’re moving forward” on the project.

Asked whether Trump’s calling for a government shutdown if Congress did not fund it meant that he was admitting Mexico would not pay for the wall, Sanders said it did not.

“He hasn’t said they’re not, either,” she said.

The story has been updated with Sanders’ comments.

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May 1920s

U.S. border guards check entering Mexicans
U.S. border guards check entering Mexicans

May 1920s

U.S. border guard and Mexicans behind the border fence.
U.S. border guard and Mexicans behind the border fence.

March 21, 1929

A line of cars carrying Mexicans over the border into California. The fence in the foreground is the border; the line of cars is in the main street of Mexicali.
A line of cars carrying Mexicans over the border into California. The fence in the foreground is the border; the line of cars is in the main street of Mexicali.

1930s

A flock of sheep at the border between Mexico and the United States.
A flock of sheep at the border between Mexico and the United States.

June 1937

A pic of state border plant inspection maintained by the United States Department of Agriculture between Mexico and the United States. Shoppers returning from Mexico (Juarez) to the United States (El Paso) over the bridge that carries all the traffic are required to open their packages for inspection.
A pic of state border plant inspection maintained by the United States Department of Agriculture between Mexico and the United States. Shoppers returning from Mexico (Juarez) to the United States (El Paso) over the bridge that carries all the traffic are required to open their packages for inspection.

June 1937

Crossing the international bridge between Juarez, Mexico and El Paso, Texas.
Crossing the international bridge between Juarez, Mexico and El Paso, Texas.

June 1937

Mexicans entering the United States via the United States immigration station at El Paso, Texas.
Mexicans entering the United States via the United States immigration station at El Paso, Texas.

1943

U.S. soldiers exchanging money at the U.S.-Mexico border.
U.S. soldiers exchanging money at the U.S.-Mexico border.

March 15, 1950

A view of the Sigma Pi sorority crossing under the Mexico border sign to Tijuana, Mexico in Calexico, California.
A view of the Sigma Pi sorority crossing under the Mexico border sign to Tijuana, Mexico in Calexico, California.

1950s

Pregnant woman at the border.
Pregnant woman at the border.

1954

Mexican farm laborers standing on the Mexican side of the border trying to get into the U.S.
Mexican farm laborers standing on the Mexican side of the border trying to get into the U.S.

1954

Mexican workers waiting just inside the U.S. border to be let in.
Mexican workers waiting just inside the U.S. border to be let in.

October 1, 1962

A border guard checks passes of Mexicans entering the United States near Nogales, Mexico.
A border guard checks passes of Mexicans entering the United States near Nogales, Mexico.

1967

Mexican workers crossing the border into Texas have their papers checked.
Mexican workers crossing the border into Texas have their papers checked.

Sept. 22 1984

Suspected undocumented immigrants cross into the U.S. from Tijuana, Mexico.
Suspected undocumented immigrants cross into the U.S. from Tijuana, Mexico.

1990

Men look across to the other side of the Tijuana border.
Men look across to the other side of the Tijuana border.

1990

Woman walking along the America-Mexico border, near Tijuana.
Woman walking along the America-Mexico border, near Tijuana.

1993

U.S. Customs agents patrolling the border.
U.S. Customs agents patrolling the border.

1994

At first light, undocumented immigrants wait to cross over into the United States.
At first light, undocumented immigrants wait to cross over into the United States.

1994

Undocumented immigrants wait on the other side of Mexico.
Undocumented immigrants wait on the other side of Mexico.

Aug. 19, 1997

Esther Pereyra Rubalcaba (left) kisses her daughter Patricia through the wall separating the US and Min Tijuana, Mexico.
Esther Pereyra Rubalcaba (left) kisses her daughter Patricia through the wall separating the US and Min Tijuana, Mexico.

July 20, 2005

Migrant activists lean against the border fence to pay homage to undocumented immigrants who died crossing over.
Migrant activists lean against the border fence to pay homage to undocumented immigrants who died crossing over.

Aug. 28, 2005

Young Mexican nationals peer through the border wall at the beach along San Ysidro, California.
Young Mexican nationals peer through the border wall at the beach along San Ysidro, California.

June 6, 2015

Paper doves in the shape of a heart are seen at the border fence in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico.
Paper doves in the shape of a heart are seen at the border fence in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico.

Sept. 25, 2016

Maria Rodriguez Torres, 70, looks towards her departing grandchildren after seeing them for the first time at the U.S.-Mexico border fence in Tijuana, Mexico. She had traveled with family members from Mexico City to see her grandchildren through the fence at "Friendship Park."
Maria Rodriguez Torres, 70, looks towards her departing grandchildren after seeing them for the first time at the U.S.-Mexico border fence in Tijuana, Mexico. She had traveled with family members from Mexico City to see her grandchildren through the fence at "Friendship Park."

Oct. 6, 2016

A burnt car is seen next to a section of the wall separating Mexico and the United States in Tijuana, Mexico.
A burnt car is seen next to a section of the wall separating Mexico and the United States in Tijuana, Mexico.

Feb. 4, 2017

A visitor stands next to the U.S.-Mexico border fence at Friends of Friendship Park in San Ysidro, California.
A visitor stands next to the U.S.-Mexico border fence at Friends of Friendship Park in San Ysidro, California.

This article originally appeared on HuffPost.