Former President Donald Trump made false claims during a speech in Iowa on Sunday, where he attempted to rewrite history by stating that he campaigned in 2016 on a promise that Mexico would pay for a portion of his border wall. Trump, who is currently running for the Republican presidential nomination, has faced criticism from rival candidates such as Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie for breaking his signature campaign promise. In reality, the wall was funded by American taxpayers, with over $16 billion in federal money being directed towards the project by the Trump administration.
During his speech, Trump argued that Mexico had indirectly paid for the wall by agreeing to deploy thousands of troops to assist in stopping migrants from heading towards the US. However, while attacking his critics, he inaccurately described his previous pledges regarding the funding of the wall. Trump claimed, “Mexico will pay for the piece of the wall,” but there is no evidence to support this statement.
In fact, during his 2016 campaign, Trump repeatedly promised, without any qualifications, that Mexico would completely fund the wall. A search of Factba.se, a comprehensive public database of Trump’s remarks from the 2016 election, found no examples of him pledging that Mexico would pay for “a piece” of the wall. When asked to provide examples from the 2016 election to support his claim, a spokesperson for the Trump campaign did not respond.
Trump’s promise that Mexico would pay for the entire wall was a central theme of his campaign rallies in 2015 and 2016. He would often engage in a call-and-response exchange with the crowd, asking them who would pay for the wall, to which they would respond, “Mexico!” Trump would then affirm their answer. He insisted on multiple occasions that Mexico would pay for the wall, stating, “100%, folks. One hundred – I don’t mean like…99.2%, I mean 100%.”
Even when Trump modified his rhetoric later in the campaign, suggesting that Mexico would reimburse the US for the wall, he still maintained that it would be a complete reimbursement. He stated, “Remember, I said Mexico is paying for the wall – with the full understanding that the country of Mexico will be reimbursing the United States for the full cost of such a wall.”
In an attempt to combat criticism of his failure to fulfill this campaign promise, Trump has made various false claims about how the wall was funded. He falsely asserted that “redemption money” from undocumented immigrants and a “border tax” were paying for the project, despite no evidence supporting these statements.
In conclusion, Trump’s recent attempt to rewrite history and claim that he campaigned on a promise for Mexico to pay for a portion of the border wall is false. Throughout his 2016 campaign, he consistently promised that Mexico would fully fund the wall, without any qualifications. The wall was ultimately funded by American taxpayers, with billions of dollars being directed towards the project by the Trump administration.
