Two weeks ago Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell stated President Donald Trump's proposed border wall will cost $12-$15 billion, but according to a new report from Reuters the price tag just doubled.
President Donald Trump’s “wall” along the U.S.-Mexico border would be a series of fences and walls that would cost as much as $21.6 billion, and take more than three years to construct, based on a U.S. Department of Homeland Security internal report seen by Reuters on Thursday.The cost of the wall and how to pay for it is already causing division among Republicans on Capitol Hill. While McConnell has promised Trump's request for funding will be granted, where that funding comes from is another story.
The report assumes DHS would get funding from Congress by April or May, giving the department sufficient time to secure contractors and begin construction by September. Trump has said Congress should fund the wall upfront, but that Mexico will reimburse U.S. taxpayers. Mexico has said it will not pay.
Department of Homeland Security Secretary James Kelly says he wants to break ground on the project in July, with a deadline of completion by 2019.
Editor's note: A previous version of this post stated the cost of the wall has tripled, when in fact it has only doubled.