Former President Donald Trump joined Fox News’ morning show on Wednesday to discuss several topics, including his plans for his first day in office should he defeat Vice President Kamala Harris in November.
“The first thing we’re going to do is we’re going to drill, baby, drill. And then number two — and I can do lots of things on the first day — not one thing or two things or four things, we’re going to do lots of things on the first day — but we’re going to close up the border,” Trump told the “Fox & Friends” co-host, Brian Kilmeade.
“We’re going to let people come in, but they have to come in legally. I built 571 miles of wall. We built a lot, much more than I said I was going to build. I was then going to add 200. We were 300 — 200 miles — we were 300 — literally, we were just right there. We could have had another 200, almost 300 miles of wall, and they decided not to put it up,” he said.
Kilmeade noted that American taxpayers have already paid for the materials.
“And they sold it, Brian. They sold it for five — for nothing. They sold it for 5 percent of the cost. It’s very expensive. That wall is exactly what Border Patrol wanted. Wasn’t my preference. I had a different wall. I had the most gorgeous wall you’ve ever seen. But they had to have steel, concrete, and rebar. And that’s what it is. Inside that steel is concrete. Inside that is rebar. They needed a certain wall, high tech. It’s very high-tech. It’s all wired for cameras, for everything. I put it up,” Trump continued.
“They sold it for 5 — for 5 percent of the cost of building it. And all they had to do is flip it. All they had to do is — it was all in place. We would have had 200 miles additionally and the wall would have been unbelievable. And by the way, walls work. You’ve heard me say two things work. Everything’s obsolete, but two things work, walls and wheels. They’ll never change. Walls and wheels,” he added.
WATCH:
Trump has long vowed to take extreme actions to secure the U.S.-Mexico border if he wins November’s presidential election.
And that promise is supported by a key voting bloc — Latinos.
The most recent Axios-Ipsos Latino Poll shows that the percentage of Latinos who support erecting a border wall and deporting all undocumented immigrants has increased by at least 10 points since 2021.
According to the research, even among those who might have connections to immigration, Trump’s calls for increased border security and possibly his anti-immigrant rhetoric are having an impact.
The results also illuminate Republicans’ recent gains among Latinos and reflect the frustration that has elevated illegal immigration to the top issue for many Americans during election season.
Axios reported on the findings:
42% of Latino adults surveyed said they support building a wall or fence along the entire U.S.–Mexico border. That’s a 12-point jump from December 2021.
38% support sending all undocumented immigrants in the U.S. back to their country of origin — up from 28% in 2021.
In addition, 64% of Latinos said they support giving the president the authority to shut U.S. borders if there are too many immigrants trying to enter the country. It was the first time the survey asked this question.
Support for building a wall was strongest among Cuban Americans (58%), who generally are more conservative than many other Latinos and have benefited from decades of Cold War-era “special treatment” on immigration.
Support for the border wall is lowest among Mexican immigrants and Mexican Americans (37%). Only 43% of Central Americans support the wall.
