U.S. President Donald Trump issued a tweet trumpeting a “great” Wednesday morning meeting over his border wall.
The tweet contained a group of photos worthy of a glossy real-estate sales brochure. The pictures showed a wall being constructed complete with construction workers and planners in a variety of poses around a wall.
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Trump’s tweet appeared to signal that the photos were actually the beginning of his great wall of United States as he wrote, “Great briefing this afternoon on the start of our Southern Border WALL!”
While Trump did indeed have a briefing which included Department of Homeland Security secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, the photos are not actually of his wall getting underway.
Nielsen was quick to follow Trump’s tweet with a response of her own, explaining where they came from.
U.S. Border and Customs officials involved with the project pointed out in February that the project in the photos is not connected to Trump’s wall.
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“We just wanted to get out in front of it and let everybody know that this is a local tactical infrastructure project that was planned for quite some time,” David Kim, assistant chief patrol agent for the Border Patrol’s El Centro sector, told the Desert Sun.
The photos show repairs of a barrier replacement project in Calexico, Calif., which had been pushed for since 2009. The repairs were done before Trump was denied full funding by the U.S. Congress last month, the Guardian reports.
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As part of a spending package Trump reluctantly signed last week, there was $1.6 billion allotted for Trump’s wall, a far cry from the $25 billion needed to complete the project. Much of the money was allocated toward repair of existing parts of the wall rather than paying for the construction of a new barrier.
Ardent supporters of Trump were rather upset that he signed off on the package.
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Trump has floated the idea of moving funds from military spending toward the wall.
Trump’s pledge to build a wall between the United States and Mexico was a major part of his campaign in 2016. He also declared that Mexico would pay for the wall, an idea that Trump has steadfastly refused.
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