This past Thursday, Donald Trump said he never intended Mexico to pay for the border wall but rather they would pay for it “indirectly” instead.
“When during the campaign I would say Mexico is going to pay for it. Obviously I never said this and I never meant they are going to write out a check. I said they are going to pay for it. They are. They are paying for it with the incredible deal we made called the United States, Mexico and Canada it’s a trade deal,” he told shared with reporters before leaving for a visit to the U.S.-Mexico border.
The trade deal with the U.S.-Mexico-Canada is being called USMC and it has yet to approved by Congress.
“It has to be approved by Congress. Probably will be other than maybe they hold that up because they want to have – they want to do as much harm as they can. Only because of the 2020 presidential election. So, Mexico is paying for the wall indirectly and when I said Mexico will pay for the wall in front of thousands and thousands of people they are paying for the wall indirectly. Many, many times over by the really great trade deal we just made,” he continued.
The above statement comes as a shock to many as Trump had said various times on his campaign trail how Mexico would pay for the border wall as well as how they would be sending cash to the U.S. for said border.
On June 16, 2015, during his presidential announcement speech — Trump said, “I will build a great, great wall on our southern border. And I will have Mexico pay for that wall.”
Trump’s campaign even went as far as posting a document that detailed how exactly Mexico will pay for the wall.
The plan was originally to propose a regulation that “no alien may wire money outside of the United States unless the alien first provides a document establishing his lawful presence in the United States,” which in lamens terms means any illegal from Mexico residing in the States would not be able to wire money back to that country.
And so, if Mexico does not pay for the wall — the administration would the above regulation into affect.
“Tell Mexico that if the Mexican government will contribute the funds needed to the United States to pay for the wall, the Trump Administration will not promulgate the final rule, and the regulation will not go into effect,” the document states.
The plan also talks about raising trade tariffs as well as cancelling visas to corner Mexico into handing over the money for the wall.
But in the past few days, Trump as well as his administration have been arguing how Mexico will pay for the wall indirectly as they attempt to secure the $5 billion in funds to build it.
But one Trump adviser shared how ultimately, tax payers will fork out the cash.
White House spokesperson Mercedes Schlapp said on CNN Wednesday, responded with a “Yes,” when asked about U.S. taxpayers paying for the wall.
“And you know what else taxpayers are paying for? The financial burden of this illegal immigration.”
But in the trade agreement itself, there is nothing that flat out states that Mexico will pay for the wall but rather, the administration makes an argument that taxpayers and businesses will be saving money on goods and services that they will be able to put back into the U.S. economy.
The partial government shutdown is now clocked in at day 20 and both the Democrats and the president, are at odds.
Now with Trump leaving for the border to garner support for his border barrier — Democrats swear they will not fund his wall. And Trump’s rebuttal? He will not sign any legislation to fund the government that does not fund his wall.
Despite the three leaders of the U.S., Canada and Mexico — the USMC trade agreement is not even legal yet.
The legislative bodies in each country additionally must approve it before its binding — which none have done.
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