Standing alongside Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump told reporters at a press conference Wednesday that he “didn’t discuss” the financial dimension of his highly-publicized “wall” proposal at his meeting in Mexico City. “Who’s going to pay for the wall? We didn’t discuss that,” stated Trump.
While Trump did say he discussed the need for a border between Mexico and the United States, he confessed that it’s actually a “shared responsibility” between the two countries. The real estate mogul’s “softened” tone here seems to contradict what he’s been telling his supporters since the first day he announced his candidacy.
the wall would be a “shared” responsibility, Trump says in Mexico City, which doesn’t sound an awful lot like Mexico would pay for it
— Edward-Isaac Dovere (@IsaacDovere) August 31, 2016
Attend any Trump rally and you’re guaranteed to hear the Republican nominee repeatedly shout one question at the crowd: Who’s going to pay for the wall? In unison, hundreds of passionate supporters enthusiastically yell back: Mexico! It’s become something of a Trumpian ritual at these overcrowded rallies.
In fact, the “big, beautiful wall” appeared to be the only constant in Trump’s “flexible” immigration policy. From day one, Trump used this “wall” as a both a literal manifestation of his uncompromising views on illegal immigration and a metonymic device meant to stand in for his impregnable anti-PC strength over his “weakling,” “low-energy,” and “little” primary opponents. It worked. He managed to rally his base and galvanize immigration hard liners.
Visit his campaign website today and you’ll see a detailed breakdown of how much Mexico will be “compelled” to pay a future Trump administration to construct the wall.
Trump website claims it’s an “easy decision” for Mexico to pay for wall. Now says they didn’t even discuss it?! pic.twitter.com/VYL0YSazNm
— igorvolsky (@igorvolsky) August 31, 2016
Perhaps a more “presidential” Trump showed up on Wednesday, one that was willing to abandon the hyperbole for “establishment Republican” moderation and compromise. Or maybe we saw “humane” Trump?
Either way, expect his campaign officials and/or children to deny his unmistakable shape-shifting and repeat the phrase “nothing has changed” like a broken record.