Trump Revises History on Mexico’s Wall Payment

President Donald Trump, who campaigned on a promise that Mexico would pay for a border wall, now misleadingly claims he never meant that Mexico would “write out a check” to pay for it. His campaign at least twice laid out specific methods of direct payment.

In March 2016, the campaign threatened to halt remittance payments from Mexicans working illegally in the U.S. to relatives back home as a way to compel Mexico to make “a one-time payment of $5-10 billion” for the wall. The campaign also proposed increasing visa fees on Mexicans coming to the U.S. as a means to pay for the wall.

In 2015, the campaign released a position paper on immigration that said “Mexico must pay for the wall and, until they do, the United States will” take specific steps, such as threatening to “impound all remittance payments derived from illegal wages.” The campaign paper also suggested increased tariffs and fees on Mexico to raise money for the