Donald Trump always said he would build that wall. And it seems things are starting, though officials fear a backlash the size of last year's Dakota Access Pipeline protests in North Dakota. The wall is surely at the top of Trump's controversial proposals, among his healthcare plan, militarized police, increased military spending, ending DACA, instating a refugee ban, rolling back abortion rights...yeah. There's a lot. The government has committed multiple prototypes to be built, and the best prototype for the wall, like a game show, will be picked by the government. So giant slabs 30 by 30 feet wide and tall are being built on the Mexican border as a trial run for the material to build the wall. "I will build a great wall -- and nobody builds walls better than me, believe me --and I'll build them very inexpensively. I will build a great, great wall on our southern border, and I will make Mexico pay for that wall. Mark my words." Well, Mexico's not paying. It's going to cost taxpayers around 21 billion dollars. Plus, he's putting forth a gargantuan $700 billion budget for the military. How exactly is universal healthcare too expensive, again? Crazy enough, one of the prototypes is also transparent, as Trump mentioned at one of his many speeches - to prevent people getting clocked in the head with drugs fired from the other side. "One of the things with the wall is you need transparency. You have to be able to see through it. In other words, if you can't see through that wall — so it could be a steel wall with openings, but you have to have openings because you have to see what's on the other side of the wall. "And I'll give you an example: As horrible as it sounds, when they throw the large sacks of drugs over, and if you have people on the other side of the wall, you don't see them — they hit you on the head with 60 pounds of stuff? It's over. As crazy as that sounds, you need transparency through that wall. But we have some incredible designs." This is all thanks to The Border Security for America Act, which funds $10 billion for the border wall and $5 billion for gates and wall entry points, as well as the hiring of 5,000 more Border Patrol agents. Trump, meanwhile, has accused Puerto Rico of "throwing our budget out of whack". These prototypes are only the initial phase of the construction of this massive, multi-year, multi-billion-dollar border wall whose efficacy is hotly debated. In other news, Trump has proposed that we are currently in the "calm before the storm" after a talk with his military leaders. What storm? "We'll see," he said. It doesn't feel particularly calm. But maybe it's about to get much more turbulent, especially if a war or military engagement appears. All Trump needs now to truly be a destructive force is a war. So far, without a war, he remains a more peaceful President than George W. Bush. Hopefully there is no war on the horizon.

When Donald Trump was running for president, he promised voters to build a wall at the U.S.-Mexico border, and make Mexico pay for it. However, Mexico had no interest in paying for a wall, which is estimated to cost anywhere from $21.6 billion to $70 billion, plus require money each year for maintenance. Afterward, Trump pivoted, and tried to persuade Congress to pay for the wall, arguing, without evidence, that it would pay for itself "in two months."

For the first two years of Trump's presidency, Congress wasn't keen on paying for a wall. Critics argue that the U.S-Mexico border is already well-defended; it's impossible to quantify the impact on crime rates from illegal immigration; there is little to no evidence illegal immigrants are taking people's jobs; and the wall could be easily circumnavigated by ladders, tunnels or immigrants overextending their visas. Therefore, the enormous cost would not seem to be worth it.

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Yesterday the House of Representatives passed a spending bill that includes $5.1 billion for wall funding, causing the MAGA hat crowd to rejoice. However, that bill is likely to die in the Senate as it requires 60 votes to pass. The Senate is currently comprised of 51 Republicans and 49 Democrats; the Democrats are staunchly against the wall, and many Republicans have misgivings. (Previously, a bipartisan spending bill passed the Senate and the House, but Trump refused to sign it.)

If Congress and the president can't agree on a spending bill by midnight tonight, the government will partially shut down. That means 420,000 federal employees considered "essential" will continue to work, and be paid retroactively when the shutdown is over. Meanwhile, more than than 380,000 federal employees face furloughs - unpaid time off - just in time for Christmas. During a meeting with Democratic Senators Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi, President Trump stated, "I would be proud to shut down the government for border security."

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With Trump's plan for a beautiful wall appearing to hit a beautiful wall, Trump supporters are now funding the project themselves. Brian Kolfage, a triple amputee Air Force veteran, started a crowdfunding campaign to construct the 2,000-mile wall at the U.S.-Mexico border. As of this writing, his GoFundMe page has raised $13 million of a $1 billion goal in four days. (The wall would actually cost much more, but $1 billion is the maximum amount you can raise on the website.)

On his GoFundMe page, Kolfage implores donors to trust him, insisting that his campaign is not a scam. But while he links to his public Facebook page, he does not mention his history with the social media platform.

Recently Facebook deleted 559 pages for "Inauthentic Activity," which means they "mislead others about who they are, and what they are doing" and were "using fake accounts to drive traffic to their websites." Kolfage told NBC that he ran multiple pages that were pulled down: Right Wing News, and its affiliates VeteranAF and FreedomDaily, which promoted false conspiracy theories before the 2016 election. This included the claim that Hillary Clinton was secretly suffering from deadly illnesses, as well as numerous fake news stories about voter fraud.

After his pages were expunged, Kolfage created the group Fight4FreeSpeech to raise money to keep the pages alive. He told NBC he did not mention his past on GoFundMe because he "didn't want it to be a distraction" from the border wall project. "I don't wanna mix the two. That shouldn't be the focus. My personal issues have nothing to do with building the wall," he said.

But hey, if you don't support the wall, you can always donate to Ladders for Migrant Siblings.

Donald Trump has apparently made "the wall" his personal Alamo. At virtually every stop during his presidential campaign, he promised his red-hat base that he would build a 2,000 mile border wall between the United States and Mexico, and that Mexico would pay for it. But as they say in Game of Thrones, a TV show where a giant wall does not work, "words are wind."

Despite Republicans controlling Congress for two years, the master dealmaker-in-chief failed to pass legislation building this long ballyhooed barrier. As a result, Trump proudly took responsibility for causing a partial government shutdown that is hurting the lives of 800,000 federal workers. This week those Americans will miss their first paycheck. National parks are overflowing with trash. TSA workers are choosing to call in sick rather than work unpaid. Zoos and museums are closing their doors. Food stamps are guaranteed through February, but there are no promises for March.

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President Trump refuses to sign any spending bill that does not include funding for a border wall. The shutdown has lasted 20 days, and on Saturday it will become the longest one in American history. Democratic leaders say they want to fund border security, but consider the wall a no-go because it is expensive and ineffective. (Many immigrants enter the US by overextending their visas. Also, there are newfangled contraptions like "ladders" and "tunnels.")

In an attempt to persuade skeptical taxpayers to spend $5.7 billion on a wall - a wall that is estimated to cost $21.6 billion to $70 billion in total - the president is pulling out all the stops. In an Oval Office address that rudely interrupted Ellen's Game of Games, Trump claimed there is a "crisis" at the border, and the only prescription is more wall, baby. Fact-checkers pointed out that Trump's eight minute speech had several misleading claims, and even more misleading sniffling. However, the president might have dropped his most outrageously false claim today.

On Thursday, Trump spoke to reporters about the wall, before flying to Texas to check out the US-Mexico border. He stated, "During the campaign, I would say Mexico is going to pay for it, obviously I never said this. I never meant they're going to write out a check." He added, "I said they're going to pay for it. They are... But they are paying for the wall indirectly many, many times over by the really great trade deal we just made."

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The live-action Boss Baby is referring to the renegotiated North American Free Trade Agreement, or United States-Mexico-Canada agreement which has not been approved by Congress yet. According to Politifact, Trump's claim that Mexico will pay for the wall through this agreement is false. Economic and trade experts say it's not possible because there's no provision in the free trade agreement about Mexico directly paying for the wall.

Also, Americans without goldfish memories know that Trump promised Mexico would directly pay for the wall several times in the past - "at least 212 times during his campaign and dozens more since he took office," according to the Washington Post.

For example, a 2015 campaign position paper stated: "Mexico must pay for the wall and, until they do," the United States would "impound all remittance payments derived from illegal wages." And a 2016 Trump campaign memo stated, "It’s an easy decision for Mexico: make a one-time payment of $5-10 billion to ensure that $24 billion [in remittances] continues to flow into their country year after year... We have the leverage, so Mexico will back down."

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Two weeks before his inauguration, Trump began changing his story. He admitted taxpayers might have to initially pay for the "Great Wall (for sake of speed)" but promised it "will be paid back by Mexico later!" Then, in August 2017 he told reporters, "it may be through reimbursement, but one way or another, Mexico will pay for the wall." (Meanwhile, Mexico's answer changed over time as well, from "no" to "hell no" to "F*** NO, DONNY!")

As they say in Game of Thrones, a TV show where a giant wall does not work, "Never forget what you are, for surely the world will not."

Donald Trump, current US president and 72-year-old toddler, only wanted one thing for Christmas: Funding for a big, beautiful wall between the United States and Mexico.

Just imagine, 2,000 miles of "artistically designed steel slats" - so beautiful! It would make such a great national landmark. The Statue of Liberty says, “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore." And the border wall says, "F*** YOU! GO BACK TO YOUR SH*THOLE COUNTRY!"

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Unfortunately, President Trump has not been able to secure funding for the wall, despite Republicans controlling all three branches of government. During his presidential campaign, Trump repeatedly said that Mexico would pay for the wall, to which they replied, to use a little español: No. No, no, no!

According to various reports, the wall is estimated to cost anywhere from $21.6 billion to $70 billion, plus the annual cost of maintenance. Critics say the wall is an exorbitantly expensive non-solution to a non-problem. They argue that the border is already well-defended, it is unclear how the 'wall' would 'pay for itself,' and illegal immigrants could circumnavigate the barrier with ladders, tunnels and overextended visas.

Furthermore, studies show immigrants are less likely to commit crimes than the native-born. Xenophobic grifters like to fearmonger about migrant caravans and violent criminal aliens, but researchers agree that it's impossible to quantify the impact on crime rates from illegal immigration.

Last week the House of Representatives passed a spending bill that included $5.1 billion for wall funding, but it is likely to die in the Senate. There are currently 51 Republican Senators and 49 Democratic Senators. The Democrats are staunchly against it, and not even all the Republicans are on board.

A bipartisan spending bill previously passed both the Senate and the House, but Trump refused to sign it. As a result, they missed the deadline, and the government has partially shut down. 420,000 "essential" federal employees continue to work, and will be paid retroactively when the shutdown is over, and, 380,000 federal employees face furlough - unpaid time off. Merry Christmas everyone!

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Today President Trump threw another desperate Twitter tantrum, threatening to close the Southern border 'entirely' if the liberal members of Congress don't bend the knee: "We will be forced to close the Southern Border entirely if the Obstructionist Democrats do not give us the money to finish the Wall," he tweeted, presumably while stomping his foot and pouting.

As the tirade continued, the president demanded changes to "ridiculous immigration laws," threatened to end the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), claimed he would cut off aid to Central American countries, stirred up hysteria about another migrant caravan, and, of course, capitalized Random Words. (Why does He do That?)

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It looks like both sides are at an impasse, but that might change when the new Congress is sworn in on January 3rd. In response to the shutdown, Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi issued a statement through her chief of staff:

“Democrats have offered Republicans three options to re-open government that all include funding for strong, sensible, and effective border security — but not the president’s immoral, ineffective and expensive wall. With the House Majority, Democrats will act swiftly to end the Trump Shutdown, and will fight for a strategic, robust national security policy, including strong and smart border security, and strong support for our service members and veterans."

Donald Trump always said he would build that wall. And it seems things are starting, though officials fear a backlash the size of last year's Dakota Access Pipeline protests in North Dakota. The wall is surely at the top of Trump's controversial proposals, among his healthcare plan, militarized police, increased military spending, ending DACA, instating a refugee ban, rolling back abortion rights...yeah. There's a lot. The government has committed multiple prototypes to be built, and the best prototype for the wall, like a game show, will be picked by the government. So giant slabs 30 by 30 feet wide and tall are being built on the Mexican border as a trial run for the material to build the wall. "I will build a great wall -- and nobody builds walls better than me, believe me --and I'll build them very inexpensively. I will build a great, great wall on our southern border, and I will make Mexico pay for that wall. Mark my words." Well, Mexico's not paying. It's going to cost taxpayers around 21 billion dollars. Plus, he's putting forth a gargantuan $700 billion budget for the military. How exactly is universal healthcare too expensive, again? Crazy enough, one of the prototypes is also transparent, as Trump mentioned at one of his many speeches - to prevent people getting clocked in the head with drugs fired from the other side. "One of the things with the wall is you need transparency. You have to be able to see through it. In other words, if you can't see through that wall — so it could be a steel wall with openings, but you have to have openings because you have to see what's on the other side of the wall. "And I'll give you an example: As horrible as it sounds, when they throw the large sacks of drugs over, and if you have people on the other side of the wall, you don't see them — they hit you on the head with 60 pounds of stuff? It's over. As crazy as that sounds, you need transparency through that wall. But we have some incredible designs." This is all thanks to The Border Security for America Act, which funds $10 billion for the border wall and $5 billion for gates and wall entry points, as well as the hiring of 5,000 more Border Patrol agents. Trump, meanwhile, has accused Puerto Rico of "throwing our budget out of whack". These prototypes are only the initial phase of the construction of this massive, multi-year, multi-billion-dollar border wall whose efficacy is hotly debated. In other news, Trump has proposed that we are currently in the "calm before the storm" after a talk with his military leaders. What storm? "We'll see," he said. It doesn't feel particularly calm. But maybe it's about to get much more turbulent, especially if a war or military engagement appears. All Trump needs now to truly be a destructive force is a war. So far, without a war, he remains a more peaceful President than George W. Bush. Hopefully there is no war on the horizon.