Trump Can’t Get Over His Wall

The President of America pledged that he’d build a wall along the USA’s southern border, and that Mexico would pay for it. Obviously, Mexico isn’t too keen to pay for something it absolutely does not want, so it was never likely to front up the cash. Trump suggested that the wall would be funded by levying tariffs on Mexican’s products (but this would mean that the US consumer paid for it, of course since the customer picks up the tab for trade tariffs, not the producer – Brexiters take note), but if he wants it built he must find the budget first, at least.

The Trump administration had initially included provision for the wall in the upcoming budget, but (predictably) it was met with strong resistance. Along with other contentious measures, the wall funding threatened to precipitate another government shutdown as the current budget expired. In the end, it looks as if Trump has bowed to the inevitable (at this stage anyway) and the funding for the wall has been removed from the budget. The current price projection for the wall is $21.6 billion, but Democrats claim the final cost could be nearer to $70 billion.

The budget is likely to see increased funding for the military and other border security issues. There will be horse trading over various issues, notably health care coverage, but it is likely that the budget can be agreed without the need of an extension to the negotiating period or an embarrassing partial closing down of the Federal government – although perhaps some Democrats might fancy payback over Republican induced “fiscal cliff” issues that happened under the Obama administration in a bid to block the affordable care act (Obamacare), but the presidency is still young and yet to pass the 100 day mark.