It was his biggest campaign promise, but building that big wall on the southern border is proving more difficult than thought for President Donald Trump. The man known for building giant hotels, resorts and high rises like Trump Tower continues to find opposition in trying to get his proposed "big, beautiful wall" to protect the U.S. southern border.
The latest setback is the massive omnibus government spending bill the President reluctantly signed into law on Friday. The bill contains funding for barriers and fencing, but only of the type already being used on the border. "The legislation prohibits (the Trump Administration) from using the prototypes they've been testing," says Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies. The President recently got a first-hand look at those prototypes which were developed at his request. Now, the more than $1 billion in border security funding in the bill cannot be used for any of them.
Krikorian blames weak GOP Congressional leadership for allowing the President to get rolled on big legislation like this. "The Republicans in Congress just aren't all that interested in (the wall), so they aren't willing to go to the mattresses to push the President's agenda," says Krikorian.
The spending bill does allow for new and existing border fencing in the Rio Grande Valley Sector of Texas, but even that faces possible obstacles. "The added complication for Texas, which is where most of the new fencing/wall would be built, is that it's all private land," says Krikorian.
Ultimately, Krikorian believes President Trump will have to settle for something less than his "big, beautiful wall." "Will we see more border fencing and border walls over the rest of the President's term? I think the answer is clearly yes, but not as much as the President thought he could get."