President Donald Trump says construction on a US-Mexico border wall will begin "as soon as we can," adding that US taxpayers will foot the bill initially but Mexico will eventually provide reimbursement funds.

"What I'm doing is good for the United States," he told ABC News in his first interview as President in a clip released Wednesday. "It's also going to be good for Mexico. We want to have a very stable, very solid Mexico."

White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer told reporters at the Wednesday press briefing that Mexico will pay for the wall "one way or another."

President Trump signed an executive order asking the federal government to find ways to stop funding federal grants to 'sanctuary cities', which protect undocumented immigrants by not prosecuting them for violating federal immigration laws in the US.</s>PHILADELPHIA (CNN) -- Congress may pay for the border wall through a special spending bill being hashed out over the next two months, footing the cost of President Donald Trump's priority before seeking any refund from Mexico, Republican lawmakers said Wednesday.

"We're going to pay for it and front the money up," House Speaker Paul Ryan said on MSNBC Wednesday evening.

"Point is, he has a promise he made to the American people, which is to secure our border," Ryan added of Trump. "A wall is a big part of that. We agree with that goal and we will be working with him to finance construction of the physical barrier, including the wall, on the southern border."

Earlier, Ryan told lawmakers gathered in Philadelphia for a private retreat this week that they could pay for the wall through a supplemental appropriations bill -- a spending measure that would be dedicated just to the wall, according to Republicans in the room and a GOP lawmaker.

"(Ryan) talked about the supplemental budget coming this spring to push that along. The President said he's going to get reimbursed one way or the other and we accept that. Meanwhile, we do have to pay our bills," Rep. Chris Collins, a New York Republican and Trump ally, said Wednesday.

Ryan spokeswoman AshLee Strong said Wednesday they are aware that Trump may request a special spending measure, but that they have not received that request from the White House yet.

"There's an acknowledgment that the administration could send a supplemental but there's no set date. In the meantime, we'll continue to more forward with the appropriations process date unchanged and consider the request when we get it," Strong said.

Collins said that Ryan did not discuss a price tag for the wall, and that he considered the discussions to still be early.

Trump quickly shifted the focus to the wall Wednesday after he issued an executive order saying that he would rely on a 2006 law to build his signature wall along the southern border. That announcement came to dominate much of the debate among Republican lawmakers gathered in Philadelphia.

Congressional Republicans escaped Washington Wednesday to try to focus on top issues -- including replacing Obamacare. But Trump swiftly ripped the focus away with his executive action on a border wall and reports that he may reopen the use torture sites outlawed by Congress.

Sen. John Thune, the Senate's No. 3 Republican who is co-hosting this week's retreat, responded to reports that Trump may seek to re-open CIA "blacksites" by noting that the issue was "settled law," and Trump would likely have trouble changing the ban on the use of torture.

White House press secretary Sean Spicer said later Wednesday pushed back on the reports, saying that the document did not come from the White House.

Thune brushed aside Trump's claims of voter fraud -- and a call for an investigation -- indicating to the new President it is time to get back on track.

"I view the election as history, and we're ready to roll up our sleeves and go to work," Thune said.

And Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, the House's No. 4 Republican, said: "I think it's very important that people have confidence in the elections and the outcome of those elections."

And then the questions turned to how Congress would pay for Trump's proposed border wall -- which was rolled out by the White House just hours earlier.

McMorris Rodgers deflected questions by saying she hadn't seen Trump's proposal yet. Thune then said that any proposal would have to be accounted for by Congress, and not add to the debt.

"On the wall, I supported the wall and, yes, it should be paid for," Thune said.

Asked about whether they were concerned about the White House not coordinating with congressional Republicans on their message and roll outs, Thune chalked up the bumpy start to a new administration in "transition" and noted that even the House and Senate Republicans often find themselves on opposite pages.

"It's a work in progress," Thune said with a laugh, as he looked over at McMorris Rodgers.</s>President Trump has promised to build his "great wall," but it will take a lot of help to make it a reality.

Trump said he will lay out his plans Wednesday to build a border wall along the nation's southwest border with Mexico, a campaign pledge that became so popular with his supporters that they regularly chanted "Build that wall" at rallies.

Now that he's in the White House, Trump can make some moves on his own and possibly start construction, but finishing the wall will require a big assist from Congress.

Here's a look at some of the basics behind the border wall.

Where does it stand now?

The U.S. "border wall" is really a collection of walls, fences and other barriers that currently cover 652 miles of the 1,954-mile border with Mexico, according to the Government Accountability Office.

The wall is strongest along parts of the border that have large populations on both sides, such as San Diego and Tijuana. Each city runs right up to the border, so Department of Homeland Security officials have built up double and triple layers of fencing for 14 miles starting in the Pacific Ocean and heading east.

In other, more desolate parts of the border, there are only single fences or a variety of barriers, including iron vehicle barriers that people can easily walk past. Most areas have no fencing, but some are nearly impossible to cross, from the widest sections of the Rio Grande to deep canyons and treacherous mountains.

How much would it cost to finish?

Predictions have varied widely, but it will be expensive.

Trump took his own stab at the figure in February, telling MSNBC he could finish the wall for $8 billion. But most other estimates are far higher.

In 2015, Border Patrol officials said during a Senate hearing that the current 652 miles of wall had cost $2.3 billion. But that does not include increased costs for building across more difficult terrain or building the wall higher, as Trump has said he would do.

The Bernstein Research group conducted a study in July and estimated the total costs to be between $15 and $25 billion.

Can Trump finish the wall himself?

It's possible that Trump could kick-start some construction on his own.

When Congress passed the Secure Fence Act of 2000, it provided approval for up to 700 miles of fencing. With 652 miles currently built, that means Trump could try and build the remaining miles on his own.

But to build the additional 1,200 miles, he would need funding from Congress. GOP leaders in both chambers have said they would help Trump secure the border, but have not committed to funding the billions Trump needs.

Can he make Mexico pay for it?

Trump has repeatedly said that he would get Mexico to pay for the construction of the wall.

Trump says he has no problem with Mexico and doesn't blame them for taking advantage of crossing border. But also says they will still pay for wall.

He said they would do so through a combination of factors, including increased fees and taxes to cross the southwest border, and withholding remittances that Mexican nationals in the U.S. send back to their families in Mexico. He could need congressional help there as well, as Congress would need to create a legal mechanism to withhold that much money. The plan could also face legal challenges.

But Trump recently changed his stance, tweeting last month that the U.S. "will be paid back by Mexico later!"</s>White House press secretary Sean Spicer said the comprehensive tax reform package Trump and Republicans are looking to put together will include taxing imports from other countries, like Mexico.

"By doing it that we can do $10 billion a year and easily pay for the wall just through that mechanism alone. That's really going to provide the funding," Spicer said, referring to a 20% tax. According to the Office of the US Trade Representative, Mexico's exports to the US in 2015 was valued at $316.4 billion. The trade deficit is estimated to be $50 billion.

The new White House plan comes as the Mexican President canceled a planned meeting with Trump after the US president signed an executive order Wednesday kicking off the process of building the border wall and vowed once again to force Mexico to pay for it.

Mexico has adamantly rejected the notion that they would fund the border wall, and Trump said Thursday that he had agreed to cancel the meeting with Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto and would take a different route to address funding for the wall.

That alternative route appears to be lodged in raising a massive import tax on goods exported from Mexico to the US -- a tax that could cause the price of US consumer goods produced in Mexico to skyrocket. Despite the controversial nature of the proposal, which is likely to be met by stiff opposition from business leaders in the US, Spicer said the proposal is one "we've been in close contact with both houses (of Congress) in moving forward and creating a plan." "It clearly provides the funding and does so in a way that the American taxpayer is wholly respected," Spicer said Thursday. Spicer dodged reporters' questions about the impact of the border tax on American consumers, instead stressing the tax's benefits for American workers. "I'm not going to get into it," he added when pressed about businesses that manufacture goods in Mexico passing along the tax to American consumers.</s>WASHINGTON >> President Donald Trump’s vow to accelerate construction of a “contiguous, physical wall” along the Mexican border is slamming into a Washington reality — who’s going to pay for it and how?

Not us, say the Mexicans.

Instead, U.S. taxpayers will foot the bill, starting with money already in the Department of Homeland Security account that amounts to a small down payment. Then it’s up to the Republican-led Congress to come up with $12 billion to $15 billion more, according to an estimate offered by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., on Thursday from a GOP issues retreat in Philadelphia.

GOP leaders refused to commit to paying for the wall with spending cuts elsewhere in the budget. That could mean costs would be paid for by adding to the government’s $20 trillion debt. Press Secretary Sean Spicer Thursday floated the idea of a 20 percent tariff on Mexican imports.

On Wednesday, Trump promised “immediate construction” would begin on the border wall, telling ABC News that planning is starting immediately. He again vowed that Mexico would pay the U.S. back, though he offered no details.

It is true there is a small amount available now in the Department of Homeland Security accounts dedicated to “border security fencing, infrastructure, and technology” — $100 million, by one congressional estimate — that would permit work to get immediately under way.

So far, thanks to spending in the late 2000s, Congress has provided about $2.3 billion to construct 654 miles of fencing and vehicular blockades. But Trump has promised a wall, not just fencing, and it’s not a universally popular idea by any stretch.

“The facts have not changed. Building a wall is the most expensive and least effective way to secure the border,” said GOP Rep. Will Hurd, whose sprawling West Texas swing district encompasses more than 800 miles of the border. “Many areas in my district are perfect examples of where a wall is unnecessary and would negatively impact the environment, private property rights and economy.”

GOP members of the appropriations committees are more likely to take a green eyeshade approach to the money since they are familiar with the likely trade-offs.

“There’s any number of complications,” said Rep. Harold Rogers, R-Ky., former House Appropriations Committee Chairman, citing obstacles such as Indian reservations and national parks and forests. And much of the remaining 1,300 miles is very rough terrain, with steep construction costs and a limited return for the dollar. “It’s expensive and it’s complicated.”

Hundreds of miles of the border are so rugged and inhospitable that it doesn’t make sense to even try to build.

And in Texas, almost all of the land along the border is privately owned. When former President George W. Bush tried to build border fencing starting in 2006, he faced stiff opposition from local ranchers and farmers, many of whom took the government to court on plans to use their land.

In many areas along the Rio Grande the fencing is built well inside the United States, as far as a mile north of the Rio Grande, to ensure that the structure doesn’t interfere with the flow of the river or is built on solid ground. The middle of the channel marks the internal border and a 1970 treaty with Mexico requires that structures built there not interfere with water flow.

“We have built a fence along the border almost as much as we possibly can without violating tribal laws, environmental requirements, and taking over peoples’ personal, private property,” said Michelle Mrdeza, who worked for the House Appropriations panel during the fence debate of the mid-2000s.

The existing blockade — roughly 350 miles to block pedestrians and 300 miles to block vehicles — has already been built along the southern border. That fencing was built in the areas that are most vulnerable to illegal crossings.

“Insofar as the problem is a physical barrier, we’ve basically addressed that issue,” said Rep. David Price, D-N.C., who chaired the congressional panel that funded the border fence when Democrats controlled Congress. “This focus, this fixation on a wall and pouring untold billions of dollars into a wall, is foolishness.”

Cost estimates prepared a decade ago already varied widely. A 2009 Government Accountability Office analysis put costs at $6.5 million a mile for pedestrian fencing and $1.8 million per mile for vehicular blockades. An actual wall constructed of concrete and steel would be more costly and difficult.

Trump has repeatedly promised that Mexico will pay for his wall, though neither he nor his allies in Congress are able to articulate how. The president of Mexico is emphatic that his country will not pick up the tab.

“I regret and reject the decision of the U.S. to build the wall,” Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto said Wednesday in a nationally televised address in his country. “I have said time and again, Mexico will not pay for any wall.”

Already, U.S. agencies have been told to scrub their budgets for savings that could be used for the wall.

“These taxpayer dollars would be better spent on investing ... to find cures for cancer and other diseases, spending on hospitals and doctors to care for our veterans, helping communities with clean water investments, supporting police in our communities,” said Sen. Pat Leahy, D-Vt.</s>PHOENIX (AP) — President Donald Trump’s announcement that he is taking steps toward building a U.S.-Mexico border wall was welcome news for voters who say they’re glad he is following through on one of his biggest campaign promises.

Trump’s renewed vow Wednesday to seize control of the border hit close to home for Peggy Davis, whose cattle ranch near Tombstone, Arizona, is about 25 miles north of the border.

She says stretches desperately need more barriers but a wall alone won’t stop illegal crossings or drug smuggling.

“We desperately need (Border Patrol) agents closer to the border,” Davis said.

Trump vowed to make Mexico pay for the wall along the 1,954-mile border, suggesting a tax on Mexican imports as a funding mechanism.

Mexico opposes the wall and has repeatedly said it won’t pay.

Critics in the U.S. say the president lacks a viable financial plan for building the wall.

One-third of the border already has some form of barrier, ranging from tall steel barricades to wire-mesh and livestock fencing.

Jerry Blackburn, a 67-year-old retired county building official from rural Tazewell, Virginia, voted for Trump and supports his calls for cracking down on sanctuary cities and refugees coming to the U.S. Blackburn, a Republican, said illegal immigration “has diluted our workforce and is a heavy burden to our people.”

He says the multibillion-dollar price tag of the wall is “not a big number when you look at the whole scope of things,” and he’s not bothered that vast stretches of the border already have fencing.

“It’s not like we’re going to start from scratch,” he said. “It’s not like we’re building from the Gulf to the ocean. We’re just finishing something that’s already been started.”

Immigration has long been a unifying issue for conservatives, especially in border states that bear the brunt of immigrant and drug smuggling. The issue has rallied people to vote Republican around the country over the years, including immigrants such as Mercedes B. Izquierdo of Miami.

“I think that building a wall is an excellent, perfect idea. There’s so much we have to do,” she said. “There are so many people coming from South America that are coming to destroy our country. Terrorists and criminals are looking to harm us.”

Zachery Henry, a 23-year-old public relations and social media specialist in Houston, doesn’t expect an expensive or towering concrete barrier but he says the U.S. does need to do something about drugs smuggled from Mexico.

“I think that would be my primary concern. I’m not too concerned about illegal immigrant s,” Henry said.

In Arizona, problems with immigration have frequently boiled up as a political issue. The 2010 killing of border rancher Robert Krentz— still unsolved but blamed on drug smugglers — helped galvanize support for SB1070. The state’s landmark immigration crackdown required law enforcement to determine the immigration status of someone arrested or detained if there was reasonable suspicion they were in the country illegally.

Six years later, Trump rallied that base again.

Davis says she doesn’t see border crossers or smugglers often on her family’s cattle ranch, but the issue persists.

Late last year, a smuggler driving a truck filled with drugs fled onto her ranch, leading Border Patrol agents on a chase through her pasture. Davis says the driver of the truck eventually stopped and fled.

“We have evidence that they’re back in our area again,” she said.

John Barnes, a 60-year-old retiree in Albuquerque, New Mexico, said he likes what he sees so far from Trump regarding the border wall and infrastructure proposals.

“I think we got to do something down there at the border,” Barnes said. “It’s a shovel-ready project.”

Barnes said he wasn’t too concerned about the cost of the wall because he believes the federal government has already spent billions of dollars on schooling and health care for immigrants in the country illegally.

“I wish Obama would have started this,” he said.

AP writers Adriana Gomez Licon in Miami, Frank Bajak in Houston, Russell Contreras in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and Michael Kunzelman in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, contributed to this report.</s>President Trump says he'll take up immigration on his third full day in office, promising in a tweet, "Among many other things, we will build the wall" along the U.S. border with Mexico. The plan is expected to come in an executive order Wednesday.

Construction of a border wall was a keystone of Trump's presidential campaign.

"A law already exists that experts believe give him the authority to start building that wall," NPR's Tamara Keith reports on today's Morning Edition. "It is the Secure Fence Act of 2006. It was bipartisan, it was overwhelmingly supported. That envisions both physical barriers and more of the high-tech stuff, like sensors and cameras."

The 2006 law mentions a two-layer fence, Tamara says — but that fence was never built. Ten years later, the process could begin.

Other plans said to be in the works could place a sharp restriction on admitting people traveling to the U.S. from a Muslim-majority nation, and reduce how many refugees are allowed into the U.S.

In addition to the wall, multiple media outlets say Trump's new immigration orders could bolster the number of border agents, adjust enforcement policies along the border, and seek to punish municipalities in the U.S. that have become sanctuary cities.</s>The Trump administration is considering alternative ways to pay for the border wall, backtracking on the president's oft-repeated promise that Mexico would foot the bill.

A White House spokesman said one idea taking shape is to apply a 20 percent tax on imports from Mexico, as well as other countries with which the U.S. has a trade deficit. That would effectively saddle U.S. consumers with a significant portion of the wall's cost, estimated at $15 billion or more.

Trump's spokesman Sean Spicer did not offer details about how the import tax would work, but he said it could be adopted as part of comprehensive tax reform.

Trump discussed the plan during a meeting in Philadelphia with Congressional Republicans.

Even floating this idea amounts to a remarkable capitulation by the new president, who was insisting as late as Wednesday that Mexico would bear the cost of the border barrier.

Mexico's refusal has already created friction between the countries. Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto abruptly canceled a planned meeting with Trump next week, a decision that the U.S. president tried to explain as mutual.

Mexico is one of America's top trading partners, with more than $500 billion worth of goods flowing across the southern border each year. Spicer argued that adding a 20 percent surcharge to imports from Mexico would quickly cover the cost of the wall.

"This is the beginning of this plan to make sure it's done right," Spicer told reporters traveling aboard Air Force One. "It clearly provides the funding and it does so in a way that ensures that the American taxpayer is wholly respected."

The suggestion drew a swift rebuke from at least one Republican senator, South Carolina's Lindsey Graham, who said it would be a bad idea to do anything that raises the price of Corona, tequila or margaritas. (Graham's family used to own a bar.)

House Speaker Paul Ryan's office contended the White House and Congress was on the "same page."

"We have been and continue to be on the same page about tax reform that supports American jobs and American goods," Ryan aide AshLee Strong told NPR's Susan Davis.

That's because Ryan has proposed a "border adjustment" tax that would affect the "corporate tax rates applies to goods and services consumed in the U.S. but not applied to goods and services exported," a Republican Capitol Hill source added.

Spicer brushed aside suggestions that much of the cost would be passed on to American consumers who purchase Mexican-made goods. He argued that cost would be outweighed by the reduction in illicit border-crossings.

"What it's going to do is lift up the wages of American workers," Spicer said. "Right now we've got an influx of cheap labor. It's going to put the American consumer back, net-net, to make sure that American workers get lifted up as well."

Spicer also suggested that building the border wall would produce savings elsewhere in the federal budget.

"I think we're going to save additional money that we would have had to spend on tracking down illegal immigrants and on immigration," Spicer said. "So it's actually a huge win for the American taxpayer and for American security when you look at the kind of plan that's coming to fruition right now."

Trump actually wants to increase spending on immigration enforcement. In addition to the wall, he's ordered the hiring of 15,000 new Border Patrol and immigration officers, and construction of new detention facilities.</s>Congress will move legislation this year providing up to $15 billion to build a wall along the Mexican boundary, Republican leaders said Thursday. But they would not say how they’d prevent the massive project from worsening federal deficits, and were meeting resistance from GOP lawmakers.

House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., told reporters at a GOP strategy retreat that they were planning legislation providing $12 billion to $15 billion for constructing the wall, one of President Donald Trump’s chief goals. Ryan said the goal is to complete that and other major bills in 2017, but the leaders offered no details on how the wall would be paid for, saying they would wait until the Trump administration proposes legislation.

Trump has repeatedly said Mexico will pay for the wall, but Mexico opposes it and has said it won’t finance it. Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto on Thursday cancelled a planned meeting next week with Trump.

Congress will pay for “the construction of the physical barrier on the border,” Ryan said.

“We intend to address the wall issue ourselves,” said McConnell.

Pressed on whether construction would increase federal deficits, Ryan said Republicans are fiscal conservatives. He said strengthening the economy and replacing President Barack Obama’s health care system were two of the best ways to bolster the government’s budget.

“If we’re going to be spending on things like infrastructure, we’re going to find the fiscal space to pay for that” in a budget Congress plans to write this spring, Ryan said.

One influential GOP senator who’s clashed with Trump since last year’s campaign expressed likely opposition to the plan.

“I’m not inclined to support it,” said Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., told reporters.

McCain said he’d await details from Trump’s Homeland Security secretary, John Kelly. He said such a plan should be “encompassing, it’s got to be coherent” with technology including drones.

“History shows you can tunnel under them, you can breach them,” McCain said of border fences.

Sen. Cory Gardner, R-Colo., would not commit to approving the billions Trump is seeking.

“Look, I haven’t seen cost estimates, I don’t know what exactly he’s talking about,” Gardner told CNN on Thursday. He said making good on border security was “an issue of trust with the American people.”

Also objecting was Rep. Will Hurd, R-Texas, whose vast West Texas district runs along the Mexican border for 800 miles. Much of the state’s territory along its boundary with Mexico is privately owned and some is within Big Bend National Park.

“Building a wall is the most expensive and least effective way to secure the border,” Hurd said in a statement.

Hurd said it’s “impossible to build a physical wall” in much of his district’s terrain, saying to do so “would negatively impact the environment, private property rights and economy.”

Trump was to speak Thursday to House and Senate GOP lawmakers at their annual policy retreat.

Many Republicans would like to see a Trump committed to their agenda and results, not a president who veers off course into conspiracy theories about voter fraud or who keeps litigating the size of his inaugural crowds.

Lawmakers were generally enthusiastic to see Trump take quick action on immigration, oil pipelines and other issues via executive order, even though they criticized Barack Obama for overusing such administrative tools when he was president. This time, Republican lawmakers justify it by saying Trump, in many cases, is undoing what Obama did.

For the GOP conference, Trump was visiting a city that he has singled out and criticized for supposed voter fraud. And the mayor has pledged to protect immigrants who are in the country illegally, in face of Trump’s crackdown on “sanctuary cities.”

Lawmakers also were to hear from Vice-President Mike Pence and British Prime Minister Theresa May.

Associated Press writer Errin Haines Whack contributed to this report.</s>President Donald Trump has decided he will seek to pay for the wall on the US's southern border by imposing a 20% tax on imports from Mexico and as part of a larger comprehensive tax reform plan, the White House said Thursday.

White House press secretary Sean Spicer said the comprehensive tax reform package Trump and Republicans are looking to put together will include taxing imports from other countries, like Mexico.

"By doing it that we can do $10 billion a year and easily pay for the wall just through that mechanism alone. That's really going to provide the funding," Spicer said, referring to a 20% tax. According to the Office of the US Trade Representative, Mexico's exports to the US in 2015 was valued at $316.4 billion. The trade deficit is estimated to be $50 billion.

The new White House plan comes as the Mexican President canceled a planned meeting with Trump after the US president signed an executive order Wednesday kicking off the process of building the border wall and vowed once again to force Mexico to pay for it.

Mexico has adamantly rejected the notion that they would fund the border wall, and Trump said Thursday that he had agreed to cancel the meeting with Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto and would take a different route to address funding for the wall.

That alternative route appears to be lodged in raising a massive import tax on goods exported from Mexico to the US -- a tax that could cause the price of US consumer goods produced in Mexico to skyrocket.

Despite the controversial nature of the proposal, which is likely to be met by stiff opposition from business leaders in the US, Spicer said the proposal is one "we've been in close contact with both houses (of Congress) in moving forward and creating a plan."

"It clearly provides the funding and does so in a way that the American taxpayer is wholly respected," Spicer said Thursday.

Spicer dodged reporters' questions about the impact of the border tax on American consumers, instead stressing the tax's benefits for American workers.

"I'm not going to get into it," he added when pressed about businesses that manufacture goods in Mexico passing along the tax to American consumers.
Donald Trump calls for a 20% tariff on Mexican imports to pay for the cost of a wall on the U.S–Mexican border. White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer says that this is one of the ideas that the administration is considering to make Mexico pay for the wall.