“I would build a great wall, and nobody builds walls better than me, believe me. And I’ll build them very inexpensively.” This was President Trump’s campaign announcement in June of 2015. Since then, President Trump’s efforts to build his long-touted wall have run into political realities. He doesn’t have the funding, and he couldn’t reach a compromise. “Look, I made it so, so clear to the president that there is not going to be a wall.” And his voter base is beginning to take notice. “Right now, if I were a betting woman, I don’t think we’re getting a wall.” So Trump instead has tried to use a series of distractions to get around the fact that his border barrier is running behind. President Trump had eight wall prototypes built near the border. But that’s where construction has stalled. These monoliths stand as a $20 million testament to his ambitions, but not much more. President Trump has repeatedly stated that construction is already under way for the wall. “We need the wall. We’ve started building the wall.” “We’re going to have the wall. We’ve already started building it.” “We started building our wall. I’m so proud of it.” But it’s almost entirely routine maintenance being done on existing sections of the wall, plus 33 miles of new fencing. When efforts to fund the wall failed, President Trump said he wanted the National Guard deployed, a move he said was significant. “Until we can have a wall and proper security, we’re going to be guarding our border with the military. That’s a big step. We really haven’t done that before, or certainly not very much before.” But this is not a dramatic move. Both President Obama and President Bush did the same during their terms. Trump suggested the military could pay for the wall with part of their budget, a proposal with few backers. “We can’t rob money and resources from the military that so desperately needs them at a time of growing international crisis.” President Trump said he was willing to compromise for wall funding in the 2018 budget bill in exchange for protecting young undocumented immigrants known as DACA recipients. “The Democrats would not do it.” But in reality, Trump was the one who ended the DACA program in the first place. Trump has tried various ways of getting Mexico to pay, including a border tax on Mexican goods or through renegotiations of the North American Free Trade Agreement, also known as Nafta. But Mexico has yet to pay a dime. “Isn’t it true at this point that Mexico is just not going to pay for that wall?” “I’m not going to go beyond what the president’s already said. I think he still has plans to look at potential ways for that to happen.” But this kind of hedging is a far cry from Trump’s original promise. “I will have Mexico pay for that wall. Mark my words.”