WASHINGTON — President-elect Donald Trump said in an interview Friday that financing a border wall with taxpayer money would allow the work to begin more quickly. But he insisted that Mexico will ultimately reimburse the United States for its construction.
“We’re going to get reimbursed,’’ Trump said during a brief telephone interview. “But I don’t want to wait that long. But you start, and then you get reimbursed.’’
The president-elect made the comments after Republicans on Capitol Hill began discussing ways to include money for construction of the border wall in spending bills that must be passed this spring. That caused some speculation that Trump was retreating on his oft-repeated promise to make Mexico pay for the wall.
In the interview, the president-elect insisted that Mexico would ultimately reimburse the United States. He said that payment would most likely emerge out of his efforts to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement with the Mexican government.
“It’s going to be part of everything,’’ Trump said of the building costs. “We are going to be making a much better deal. It’s a deal that never should have been signed.’’
But he said the trade negotiations will take time, and that he supports the idea of using taxpayer money to begin construction of the border wall “in order to speed up the process.’’
Republican lawmakers have already begun discussions on Capitol Hill about including funding for the border wall in spending bills this spring. That would provide money to begin construction on a barrier that was authorized, but never completed, in legislation passed in 2006.
At an August rally in Phoenix, hours after meeting with Mexico President Peña Nieto, Trump vowed that America’s southern neighbor would bear the financial burden of securing the border.
“Mexico will pay for the wall, believe me — 100 percent. They don’t know it yet, but they will pay for the wall,’’ Trump said last summer. “They’re great people, and great leaders, but they will pay for the wall.’’
In a tweet Friday, Trump mocked news reports about the possible taxpayer funding of the border barrier, suggesting that Mexico would be forced to reimburse the United States government for any costs incurred in building the wall.
“The dishonest media does not report that any money spent on building the Great Wall [for sake of speed], will be paid back by Mexico later!’’ he said.
Representative Chris Collins, Republican of New York, and one of Trump’s liaisons on Capitol Hill, said Friday that members of his party in Congress are eager to get moving on construction of a border wall, even if that means using taxpayer money to finance it.
In an appearance on CNN’s “New Day’’ program, Collins said it should come as no surprise to anyone that the US government will have to pay for building the wall. “Of course, we have to pay the bills. We’re building the wall,’’ he said.
But he also expressed confidence that Trump would be able to negotiate reimbursement from the Mexican government over time.
Kellyanne Conway, who will serve as a counselor to Trump, said the new president will keep the promises he made on the campaign trail. “The president-elect has said many times that he will build a wall and Mexico will pay for it,’’ she said.
As a candidate, Trump’s promise to build a wall to keep out immigrants from Mexico was one of his most powerful rhetorical devices. He often used it at rallies to whip up his supporters and bolster his argument that illegal immigration was damaging the United States.
His repeated pledge to make Mexico pay was in part a way to rebut one of the central criticisms of a wall — that the cost to build a barrier along the long, southern border could run into the many billions of dollars.
Critics have also said the wall would be ineffective in stopping people determined to enter the United States illegally. And others said it represented a symbolic affront to the idea that America is a welcoming country that embraces immigration.
