Trump: Border wall will cost $8 billion

CNN ^ | Tue February 9, 2016 | By Jeremy Diamond, CNN

[onyx]

Manchester, New Hampshire (CNN)Donald Trump estimated on Tuesday that it will cost about $8 billion to build the wall he has promised to erect on the U.S.'s southern border if elected president.

Trump has vowed to force Mexico to pay for the border wall and said Tuesday on MSNBC that the hefty $8 billion price tag "is a tiny fraction of the money that we lose with Mexico" on trade.

"The wall is probably $8 billion, which is a tiny fraction of the money that we lose with Mexico. We lose a tremendous amount of trade deficits. We have a trade deficit with Mexico that is astronomical, much bigger than that. We will get -- and I say it also is also part of my plan -- Mexico is going to play for the wall," he said.

Trump's proposal to build a wall on the U.S.'s southern border and his hardline immigration policies have become central to the billionaire's presidential campaign. But Tuesday marked the first time he has tacked a specific dollar amount to his border wall proposal.

Trump said he came up with the figure by "multiplying the number of miles by a certain number."

"I'm taking price per square foot and price per square, you know, per mile, and it's a very simple calculation," Trump said, noting that he would need to erect about 1,000 miles of border wall along the 2,000-mile long border because of natural barriers along certain parts.

Trump's pledge to make Mexico pay for the wall drew harsh criticism just days earlier from former Mexican President Felipe Calderon.

[onyx]

MEXICO!

[dmz]

Perhaps we don’t give that money to Izlamic countries (implied, countries which hate us) as “aid” and that will pay for it.

<><><>

No matter how you swing it, the American taxpayer is paying for the wall.

Withholding aid from one country to another is just diverting our tax dollars from one adventure to another.

[Albion Wilde]

Ping!

This list provides two daily round-ups of Trump-related titles on FR,
to cut the clutter and simplify finding your area of interest.
If you are a Trump opponent, you won't be happy here.

To be added to or dropped from this ping list,
post your request on the thread below or freepmail to Albion Wilde.

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Selected Trump articles on FR, with links, from 12:00 AM to 3:30 PM EST, 2/9/16:
Trump: Border wall will cost $8 billion
Latest Florida Poll [Fla S. College Poll - Trump 27, Rubio 20, Cruz 12]
Trump's Performer's Instinct [Limbaugh]
Donald Trump Closing Message For New Hampshire
New Trump ad slams Cruz as the 'worst kind of Washington insider'
Carson's former campaign manager advising Trump(volunteer)
Eric Trump: 'The Speed of Execution' of a Trump Administration... 'Never Seen Before'
Why So Many Americans find Trump and Sanders Appealing
Uh... Fox News Calls NH for Trump, with Vote Totals and Percentages [calls it prematurely]
Donald Trump's creative defense of vulgar insult: 'I was doing everybody a favor'
Dear FRiends, We need your continuing support to keep FR going strong. [FReepathon]
Pat Caddell: Voters 'Are So Angry,' They 'Want Their Country Back'
Ted Cruz, the presidential candidate who wants to increase the H-1B cap by 500%
Could Jeb-mentum be real? The GOP's "low-energy" candidate veers left - and New Hampshire loves it
3-yr-old is dying, Airline Refuses to Help so Trump does THIS
Supreme Omission in GOP Election Debate [The Judicial Branch Gets No Mention]
Bill Clinton's 'Bimbos' Flock to Team Trump
Cruz's Consular Report of Birth
Patton on Profanity and Prayer (Part One -- Profanity
Trump calls Cruz a p___y. Is this really what we want? (vanity)
Trump Calls Hillary 'In a Certain Way, Evil'
EXCLUSIVE -- Geert Wilders: Stopping Islamic Immigration Is a Matter of Survival
McCain: Anyone Who Says Waterboarding Works Is a Liar
GOP's Platoon of Accomplished Governors Falls Flat With Voters
How History Shapes the New Hampshire Primary
In final day of campaigning, Trump tries to strike an intimate note
National poll: Cruz and Rubio surged after Iowa
Check Out The Results Of The Hannity.com GOP Primary Poll
Former Mexican President Calderon Says Trump's Idea for Border Wall Is "Stupid", "Useless"
Trump and Eminent Domain
Trump to Savage: Maybe Obama doesn't want to defeat ISIS
Free Republic 2016 Caucus Open Discussion Thread XXI

[dmz]

And who’s going to pay for it?

<><><><

No one but the American taxpayer.

And you know it as well as I do.

[Girlene]

8 billion????? Why hasn’t it been built already?

[txhurl]

Does this get built in the middle of the Rio Grande, on their side or our side?

[GrouchoTex]

“1,000 miles of border wall along the 2,000-mile long border because of natural barriers along certain parts.”

Oh no, it sounds like he is building only 1/2 a wall, now what are we going to do?

Of course, anyone who has been to Big Bend know that a wall isn’t needed everywhere, but, it is fun to poke at it a bit.

[AuntB]

What the candidates said about Immigration when they announced run for Prez

I keep hearing about Cruz being SO strong on immigration...yeah, he is TODAY, after copying Donald Trump’s positions.

But what did the candidates have to say when they announced their run for presidency?

Here is their (Trump, Cruz, Rubio) total remarks on IMMIGRATION...later we will do trade and terrorism.

Trump June 16 , 2015

When do we beat Mexico at the border? They’re laughing at us, at our stupidity. And now they are beating us economically. They are not our friend, believe me. But they’re killing us economically.
The U.S. has become a dumping ground for everybody else’s problems. (APPLAUSE)

Thank you. It’s true, and these are the best and the finest. When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best. They’re not sending you. They’re not sending you. They’re sending people that have lots of problems, and they’re bringing those problems with us. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists. And some, I assume, are good people.
But I speak to border guards and they tell us what we’re getting. And it only makes common sense. It only makes common sense. They’re sending us not the right people.
It’s coming from more than Mexico. It’s coming from all over South and Latin America, and it’s coming probably — probably — from the Middle East. But we don’t know. Because we have no protection and we have no competence, we don’t know what’s happening. And it’s got to stop and it’s got to stop fast. (APPLAUSE)

I will immediately terminate President Obama’s illegal executive order on immigration, immediately. (APPLAUSE)
I would build a great wall, and nobody builds walls better than me, believe me, and I’ll build them very inexpensively, I will build a great, great wall on our southern border. And I will have Mexico pay for that wall.
He’s weak on immigration. He’s in favor of Common Core. How the hell can you vote for this guy? You just can’t do it. We have to end — education has to be local.

When do we beat Mexico at the border? They’re laughing at us, at our stupidity. And now they are beating us economically. They are not our friend, believe me. But they’re killing us economically.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/transcript-donald-trump-announces-his-presidential-candidacy/

Cruz Mar. 23, 2015
Instead of the lawlessness and the president’s unconstitutional executive amnesty, imagine a president that finally, finally, finally secures the borders. (APPLAUSE)
And imagine a legal immigration system that welcomes and celebrates those who come to achieve the American dream.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/transcript-ted-cruzs-speech-at-liberty-university/2015/03/23/41c4011a-d168-11e4-a62f-ee745911a4ff_story.html

(Cruz’s speech was all about him and your imagination!)

Marco Rubio April 13, 2015
“modernize our immigration laws”

And THAT IS IT, except for this...

En este pais, ustedes van a poder lograr todas las cosas que nosotros no pudimos.
Translated: “In this country, you will achieve all the things we never could.”

http://time.com/3820475/transcript-read-full-text-of-sen-marco-rubios-campaign-launch/

http://towncriernews.blogspot.com/2016/02/what-candidates-said-about-immigration.html

[FreeReign]

Does this get built in the middle of the Rio Grande, on their side or our side?

Neither. The river is assumed to be a natural barrier.

[AuntB]

“8 billion????? Why hasn’t it been built already?”

Because Ted Cruz and Rubio have been too busy to push funding to get it built.

[doug from upland]

Maybe people can get name on wall for donation to build it.

[HamiltonJay]

8 Billion out of 4 Trillion is about .2% of the latest Obama proposed budget... get’r done.

[gleeaikin]

Estimating 2,000 miles of barrier at $8 billion comes to $756 per foot. Does this also include the cost of depots to house troopers, vehicles and other equipment at appropriate intervals along the barrier, and building and maintaining the roads along it as well? Not to mention a salaries of personal to man and patrol? Does someone in construction know how high a wall could be built at $756 a foot using Davis Bacon wages?

[PA Engineer]

That's all?! Just tax Western Union 50% for all funds originating in the United States going to Mexico, and you can build a fence on the northern border with Canada too!

Exactly. Add to that number the savings from freezing all welfare related payments to criminal invaders and visiting visas and you could probably triple that number.

That would start the self-deportation process. Add to the benefit freeze the stipulation of asset forfeiture. Last in first out would be targeted over a time frame where those that are caught and have not left will fall into the asset forfeiture trap.

We have a very militarized police force in place under Obama. Turn them to illegal alien security with asset forfeiture incentives and away from that police state.

[DoodleDawg]

Trump said he came up with the figure by "multiplying the number of miles by a certain number."

Let me guess. That certain number was...$8 million?

[DoodleDawg]

Just tax Western Union 50% for all funds originating in the United States going to Mexico, and you can build a fence on the northern border with Canada too!

I thought Mexico was going to pay for it?

[Girlene]

A lot of it has been built.....it doesn't seem to be doing a lot of good. Secure Fence Act of 2006

[Suz in AZ]

“How about the cost rounding up and deporting millions of illegals.”

After passage of AZ SB1070, illegals were leaving in hoards on their own. Roads were full of Beverly Hillbilly-packed tricks heading out of the state. News was saying that there were lines at the Mexican consulate with people getting their papers in order to go back to Mexico so they could enroll their kids in school there. Fast food drive thrus, where I previously couldn’t understand their horrible Spanglish, suddenly were staged by English speaking Americans. That was great. Apartment complexes that catered to illegals were complaining that their tenants were leaving.

Point is, that if you enforce the law, a large number of them leave on their own. It works. I’ve seen it.

[map]

Ask Cruz where he is building his wall. It was his idea first.

[map]

How is Cruz building his wall? It was his idea first.