Washington (CNN) US taxpayers will foot the bill for a border wall, White House strategic communications director Mercedes Schlapp acknowledged in an interview on Wednesday.

"Yes," Schlapp said when pressed by CNN's Jim Sciutto about taxpayers paying for the wall. "And you know what else taxpayers are paying for? The financial burden of this illegal immigration."

The White House has previously acknowledged that the construction of a border wall will need to be funded by government dollars, but have insisted -- as Schlapp did on Wednesday -- that financial benefits from the revised, but still unratified, US-Mexico-Canada trade deal will ultimately cover the cost of the wall

Speaking from the Rose Garden last week, President Donald Trump claimed that eventual economic benefits from a trade deal with Mexico and Canada meant he was keeping his campaign promise.

"I view that as absolutely Mexico is paying for the wall," Trump said.

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