San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer is disputing President Donald Trump’s comments that Faulconer thanked Trump for his efforts on the border wall during a Tuesday meeting between the two men at the White House.

Trump said on Fox News Wednesday night that Faulconer expressed gratitude for local upgrades to the wall and declared that they had been highly effective.

“The mayor was just up in my office - great guy,” Trump told Sean Hannity. “He came up to thank me for having done the wall because it’s made such a difference. He said it’s like day and night. He said people were flowing across and now nobody can come in.”

Faulconer’s spokesman Craig Gustafson said the president’s recollection of the meeting is flat wrong.


“That’s not what Mayor Faulconer said,” Gustafson said in an email. “We all know that the president uses his own terminology. But that wasn’t the focus of their conversation.”

The mayor was in Washington to lobby for a proposed trade agreement between the U.S., Mexico and Canada, and to seek federal help to stop sewage from flowing across the Mexican border onto San Diego beaches.

Faulconer has consistently expressed opposition to Trump, a fellow Republican, on many issues related to immigration and the border, including Trump’s support for an upgraded and expanded wall.


Gustafson didn’t say the mayor expressed opposition to the wall during his unplanned meeting with Trump, but that the topic was barely discussed.

“The president as an aside asked Mayor Faulconer what he thought about the border, and the mayor’s response is that we welcome federal investment in our land ports of entry,” Gustafson said. “We’re the busiest border crossing in the Western Hemisphere, and federal dollars help us make it easier to trade, cross legally and commute across the border.”

Faulconer also told Trump that the border “does not define San Diego’s relationship with Mexico,” Gustafson said. “Trade does, and that’s why he’s so focused on getting the USMCA trade agreement approved by Congress.”

A pool report issued by the White House after the meeting appears to support Faulconer’s recollection.


The report says the two men discussed the trade agreement, the sewage problem and how San Diego is tackling homelessness. There is no mention of the border wall or immigration.

Tony Krvaric, chairman of the Republican Party of San Diego, said on Tuesday that local Republicans stand with Trump’s “vision for America.”

On Friday, Krvaric said the dispute over the White House meeting between Trump and Faulconer doesn’t contradict his statement.

“We are not the Democrat Party where group think rules,” he said. “Republicans can disagree on issues and still be on team freedom.”


Gustafson reiterated Faulconer’s opposition to Trump’s border wall plan.

“Mayor Faulconer doesn’t support a wall from sea to shining sea,” he said. “Let’s invest instead on stopping sewage from the Tijuana River Valley.”

