- President Donald Trump on Sunday said in a tweet that he "disagreed" with the construction of a privately-funded South Texas border wall portion that was reported to be falling apart just months after it was erected.
- The roughly 3-mile wall segment, built in January by North Dakota-based Fisher Industries with financial contributions from conservative nonprofit We Build the Wall, is said to have cost $42 million.
- "It was only done to make me look bad, and perhsps [sic] it now doesn't even work," Trump said of the border project.
- Tommy Fisher, CEO of Fisher Industries, said in a statement to Associated Press on Sunday that Trump "just got some misinformation on this stuff" and pledged that the wall "will stand for 150 years."
- Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
President Donald Trump on Sunday criticized a portion of a South Texas border wall that had been built using funds raised by his supporters, saying that the wall was constructed "to make me look bad."
The structural issues were reported on by ProPublica The Texas Tribune last week. According to the report, experts say the privately-funded border wall located along the shores of the Rio Grande "is showing signs of erosion that threatens its stability."
The roughly 3-mile wall segment, built in January by North Dakota-based Fisher Industries with financial contributions from conservative nonprofit We Build the Wall, is said to have cost $42 million.
We Build the Wall, which counts former Trump strategist Steve Bannon as a chairman on its advisory board, has raised over $25 million on the crowdsourcing platform GoFundMe to help construct several sections of the US-Mexico border.
According to the ProPublica and Texas Tribune report, a federal judge called for an inspection of the eroding border wall portion last week. In May, a US agency found that the wall violated a treaty with Mexico by diverting water in a way that could worsen flooding.
Trump on Sunday said in a tweet that he "disagreed" with the construction of this border wall portion by using a private contractor.
"I disagreed with doing this very small (tiny) section of wall, in a tricky area, by a private group which raised money by ads," Trump tweeted. "It was only done to make me look bad, and perhsps [sic] it now doesn't even work. Should have been built like rest of Wall, 500 plus miles."
Tommy Fisher, CEO of Fisher Industries, said in a statement to Associated Press on Sunday that Trump "just got some misinformation on this stuff."
"The wall will stand for 150 years, you mark my words," Fisher said.
Trump has been advocating for stronger protections along the US-Mexico border as a cornerstone of his presidential campaign. He has previously promised on several occasions that Mexico would pay for the border wall.
The Trump administration has said it would replace 450 to 500 miles of the border wall by the end of 2020, though officials were skeptical about the feasibility of this goal.
According to CNN, Trump is financing the border restorations through a combination of US taxpayer money and the diverting of military funds.
Join the conversation about this story »
NOW WATCH: Inside London during COVID-19 lockdown
https://ift.tt/2ZZbCs6