[The Wall and the Shutdown, Explained.]

“As a veteran who has given so much, 3 limbs, I feel deeply invested to this nation to ensure future generations have everything we have today,” Mr. Kolfage, 37, wrote in the fund-raiser description. “Too many Americans have been murdered by illegal aliens and too many illegals are taking advantage of the United States taxpayers with no means of ever contributing to our society.”

Mr. Kolfage, a Purple Heart recipient who lives in Miramar Beach, Fla., wrote on the GoFundMe page that he began the drive out of frustration that Mr. Trump’s signature campaign promise remained unfulfilled. “It’s time we uphold our laws, and get this wall BUILT!,” he wrote. “It’s up to Americans to help out and pitch in to get this project rolling.”

In a phone interview, Mr. Kolfage said the public outpouring of donations only underscored the exasperation felt by those who supported the wall project. “Americans are frustrated with the way things are going and politicians holding us all hostage,” he said.

The campaign went viral as Mr. Trump appeared to back down from his threat to shut down the government unless Congress allocated $5 billion for the wall, a capitulation that outraged his most ardent supporters and right-wing media pundits alike. The president later said on Twitter that Mexico would indirectly pay for the wall through a new North American free trade deal. But on Thursday, Mr. Trump told House Republican leaders he would not sign a stopgap spending bill to avert a shutdown if it did not include border-wall funding. The House on Thursday evening passed stopgap spending legislation with an additional $5.7 billion for wall construction, but it is expected to fail in the Senate, where Democratic votes are needed to top the 60-vote threshold.

[Read: A Possible Government Shutdown? Here’s Where Things Stand.]

Like Mr. Trump, Mr. Kolfage has focused his wrath on congressional Democrats, whom he blames for refusing to fund the project. “They’d rather see President Trump fail, than see America succeed,” he wrote on the fund-raiser page.