GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump said Tuesday his wall along the United States’ southern border would cost $8 billion, putting a price tag on what has become one of his most frequently touted proposals during the real estate mogul’s 2016 White House run.
“The wall is probably $8 billion, which is a tiny fraction of the money that we lose with Mexico,” Mr. Trump said on MSNBC. “We lose a tremendous amount on trade deficits.”
“So it’s $8 billion, and what we’re doing is we have 2,000 miles, right? 2,000 miles,” he said. “It’s long, but it’s not 13,000 miles like they have in China. And of the 2,000, we don’t need 2,000 — we need a thousand because of natural barriers, etcetera, etcetera, and I’m taking a price per square foot and a price per square mile, and it’s a very simple calculation.”
He added that there would be “big, beautiful doors” to allow people to come into the country, and reiterated that Mexico would pay for the wall.
Felipe Calderon, the former president of Mexico, told CNBC recently the Mexican people wouldn’t pay a single cent for such a “stupid wall.”
“I heard he said that we will not pay. Guess what? The wall just got higher,” Mr. Trump said.
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
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