As President of the United States, Donald Trump seems to spend an alarming amount of time tweeting. Whether he's congratulating Fox News on some apparently excellent journalism, throwing shade at other world leaders, or announcing changes to the military that haven't actually been approved, the former businessman just loves to get the most of his 280 characters.

In fact, the only thing he seems to enjoy more than using social media is playing golf.

Sometimes, however, Trump's eagerness to tweet about his every presidential move does him more harm than good. Take yesterday, for example, in which Trump shared images of the supposed southern border wall.

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Along with a statement about a briefing on the wall, Trump also shared four pictures of what he implied to be the beginnings of construction work. And, considering that the border wall was ostensibly one of the main reasons that he landed himself a spot in the White House, this was a pretty big deal.

Or, at least, it would have been if the pictures were legit.

As it turns out, though, the images are not of the new border wall at all, but instead, show the ongoing repairs to a pre-existing part of the fence in California. What's more, the project to fix the metal barrier has been going on since 2009 - way before Trump was on the scene.

According to the US Customs and Border Protection, the repairs were approved almost a decade ago in order to prevent illegal immigration. "Although the existing wall has proven effective at deterring unlawful cross border activity, smuggling organizations damaged and breached this outdated version of a border wall several hundred times during the last two years," they said.

Within minutes, dozens of Trump's followers were calling him out on his deception:

"That's a fence not a wall and it's a replacement of what was already there. You've done nothing but pat yourself on the back for things you haven't done," wrote one Twitter user.

"Trump promised a wall that Mexico would pay for. This is a fence that is being repaired with American money. I miss where any part of this is Trump keeping his promise," added another.

"OK SO ANOTHER LIE!!!! THIS IS A REPLACEMENT WALL THAT WAS ORDERED IN 2009. THIS IS NOT YOUR WALL. WHAT A JOKE. SIGNED, AND [sic] HONEST CALIFORNIAN," wrote Teri Weinberg.

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At this point, though, are we really that surprised that Trump was, at best, mistaken? From the moment he announced his intentions to run for president, he's veered from mishap to scandal with startling alacrity. From the border wall promises to the Stormy Daniels scandal, it seems these scandals are starting to mount once again.

But, until the USA sees evidence of a real border wall funded by Mexico - as Trump promised - it seems that opponents of the president aren't going to let him get away with spreading what would appear to be fake news.

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."

The debate over border control between the United States and Mexico has been running hot for years, but the concept of building a wall between the two countries has definitely come more to the forefront since Donald Trump began his campaign for the 2016 presidential election.

The ongoing conflict between Trump and Democrats over this issue has continued to this day. Recently, a dispute over his demand of $5.7 billion for 230 miles of wall to be added to the border this year led to a 35-day government shutdown.

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Amidst the ongoing debate on whether a wall between the two countries would be an effective use of resources, surveillance footage showing dozens of migrants scaling one portion of the border fence has emerged. The US Customs and Border Protection agency released the video, showing people climbing over a section of the fence in Arizona on Monday, using a ladder provided by a smuggler.

The video shows them travelling over one-by-one, before scaling down the 18 feet drop using what appears to be a rope. At the end of the video, the camera zooms in to show what is presumably the smuggler, carrying the ladder back south of the border across their back.

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The group, which supposedly amounted to 110 people, were later apprehended by Border Patrol agents. Jose Garibay, a Border Patrol spokesman, told the Arizona Republic that the video shows how "brazen" smugglers have become:

"They know that we're not gonna go into Mexico to apprehend them. So once he puts up that ladder, gets his commodity - in which he looks at these humans - in the United States, then he takes down his ladder, and as you saw in the video, just walks back to wherever he hid the ladder and continues on with his day."

This follows news from earlier this week in which 376 migrants were found walking along the border after using tunnels to bypass the fence. Many critics of the plans for the wall have pointed to these evasions of the fence as evidence that physical barriers do little to stop those who migrate illegally.

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As one reporter pointed out, instances of those jumping the fence to make it to the US have dropped significantly over the years, with a 90% decrease in arrests since 2000. Many attribute this to the work of border patrol agents, with any physical barrier only giving them slightly more time to respond.

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Other critics have suggested that the border wall would need to be monitored in real time by sensors, cameras, and patrols along every section of the 1954-mile stretch, otherwise blind spots could still be found and exploited.

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On Friday afternoon, it was announced that a deal had been struck to re-open the government without any funding for the wall. While Trump failed to get funding for his proposed 230 additional miles of wall for 2019, the conversation is far from over yet.

The Senate is expected to come together and vote on the proposed measure on Friday.

The U.S.-Mexico border wall is about to get a makeover. And no, it’s not a graffiti clean-up. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has confirmed that the wall will be painted black, at the request of President Donald Trump himself.

Speaking at a press conference in New Mexico this week, Noem explained (via The Independent): “That is specifically at the request of the president, who understands that in the hot temperatures down here when something is painted black it gets even warmer and it will make it even harder for people to climb. So we are going to be painting the entire southern border wall black to make sure that we encourage individuals to not come into our country illegally.”

She even grabbed a roller brush and helped slap on some paint for the cameras.

The idea? Make the steel hotter in the blistering desert sun so it’s even harder to climb.

Trump, meanwhile, was celebrating what he called “the lowest recorded border numbers in U.S. history.” Posting on Truth Social, he wrote: “CONGRATULATIONS TEXAS! The July Border Statistics are in and, once again, they are the LOWEST RECORDED NUMBERS IN UNITED STATES HISTORY. The U.S. Border Patrol reported ZERO releases of Illegal Aliens into the Country.”

According to Homeland Security, fewer than 25,000 encounters were reported nationwide in July, nearly 90% lower than the monthly average under Biden.

Still, the administration isn’t easing up on its hardline immigration policies. ICE raids are ongoing, and ad campaigns fronted by Noem warn: “If you come to our country and you break our laws, we will hunt you down.”

At the presser, Border Patrol Chief Mike Banks backed the paint job too, claiming it could also help deter rust; though the Department of Homeland Security wouldn’t say how much the massive paint bill will actually cost taxpayers, according to BBC News. A spokesperson only pointed to Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” (OBBB), signed in July, which allocates roughly $46 billion to finish the wall system.

Construction hasn’t stopped either. Noem says crews are adding about half a mile of barrier every day, with adjustments depending on the terrain; including stretches along the Rio Grande where “water-borne infrastructure” is being worked on. Cameras, sensors, and other tech upgrades are also promised as part of the expansion.

For Trump, the wall was the signature promise of his first term, and now in his second, he’s doubling down with mass deportations and a renewed focus on sealing the border.

Noem put it bluntly: “A nation without borders is no nation at all. We’re so thankful we have a president that understands that a secure border is important to our country’s future.”

Not everyone’s buying it, though. California Governor Gavin Newsom took a jab online, writing: “Forget the southern border, the strongest wall Trump’s ever built is his bronzer line.”

So, while the wall gets its all-black makeover in the desert heat, the debate around immigration in America remains as fiery as ever.

Featured image credit: Andrew Harnik / Getty Images.