Donald Trump has said his controversial border wall with Mexico is going to start being built "soon" and "way ahead of schedule".

Speaking to a conference of conservative activists, he said: "For too long the US has defended other nation's borders while leaving ours wide open."

The wall is aimed at "stopping the flow of illegal immigration" and "stopping the drugs pouring in", he said.

He told the Conservative Political Action Conference in Maryland that "as we speak today, immigration officers are finding gang members, drug dealers and criminal aliens and throwing them the hell out".

He said: "We're building the wall. It's going to start soon, way ahead of schedule."


Sky's Siobhan Robbins, who was at the event, said Mr Trump was on "comfortable ground".

"The feeling of the speech was that of a returning hero, a man who had previously talked about being president and then returned with the title," she said.

"The audience adored him and made it clear, shouting 'We love you' or erupting into spontaneous applause.

Image: A section of the current wall between Mexico and the US

"The biggest hit was arguably his continued commitment to protecting the borders which inspired a chorus of 'build the wall, build the wall'.

"Confident, witty and charismatic, Donald Trump was full of headlines but still fairly thin on policy detail.

"Those within the conservative capsule of the hall told me that didn't matter, that he'd only been president for just over a month and he was already 'the best'.

"This week's protests at Republican town hall meetings suggest other voters disagree. They're demanding details about planned changes, especially to do with healthcare and the scrapping of Obamacare. They're tired of talk, they want content. These are the people the President still needs to convince."

Image: Protesters at Dallas/Fort Worth airport demonstrate against Mr Trump's travel ban order

There are reports the "wall" along the US-Mexico border would be a series of fences and walls that would cost as much as $21.6bn (£17.2bn), and take more than three years to construct.

Mr Trump also pledged that "in a matter of days", his administration will take "a brand new action" to prevent potential terrorists from entering the US.

He did not specify what that action will be, but White House officials say a new immigration ban will be brought in soon following opposition to the previous order affecting travellers from seven mainly Muslim countries.

In a wide-ranging speech, he also covered long-standing plans to repeal and replace Obamacare, rebuild the military, fix "broken trade deals", bring back jobs, cut "wasteful spending" and rebuild inner cities.

He also stepped up his attacks on "fake news media", saying some journalists were "the enemy of the people" and should not be able to use sources in their stories without naming them, adding: "Let their names be put out."

Mr Trump joked: "A source said 'Donald Trump is a horrible, horrible human being'. Let them say it to my face. Let there be no more sources."

He acknowledged there are "talented reporters" but also claimed there are some "terrible, dishonest people" and "they do a tremendous disservice to our country".