Former US President Donald Trump came under fire for making false claims about his campaign promise to get Mexico to pay for a portion of the border wall. In a speech in Iowa on Sunday, Trump attempted to rewrite history by stating that he had campaigned on the promise that Mexico would pay for “a piece” of the wall. However, this claim is entirely false.
Throughout his 2016 campaign, Trump consistently promised that Mexico would pay for the entire wall. This was a signature promise and a staple of his campaign rallies, where he often engaged in call and response exchanges with his supporters. He would promise to build the wall and ask the crowd who would pay for it, to which they would enthusiastically chant “Mexico!” Trump would then reiterate that Mexico would pay for the wall, emphasizing that he meant 100% and not 99.2%.
There is no evidence to support Trump’s recent claim that he promised Mexico would pay for only a portion of the wall. A search of Factba.se, the most comprehensive public database of Trump’s comments during the 2016 election, found no examples of him making such a claim. Additionally, a request to Trump’s campaign spokesperson for examples of this promise went unanswered.
Even when Trump altered his rhetoric late in the campaign to say that Mexico would reimburse the United States for the wall, he still maintained that it would be a full reimbursement. He never mentioned only asking for a portion of the funding from Mexico.
It is worth noting that Trump has made several other false claims about how the wall was funded in an attempt to deflect criticism for not fulfilling his campaign promise. These claims included suggesting that “redemption money” from undocumented immigrants and a “border tax” would pay for the wall, both of which were unfounded.
Critics, including rival Republican candidates such as Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, have called out Trump for breaking his promise to get Mexico to pay for the wall. In reality, the wall was funded by over $16 billion in federal money allocated by the Trump administration.
Trump’s recent attempt to rewrite history and downplay his promise to make Mexico pay for the wall only adds to the list of false claims he has made regarding this issue. It remains to be seen how this will impact his current campaign for the Republican presidential nomination.