Trump: To get started, Mexico will pay for the wall

President-elect Donald Trump said that Mexico will pay for his long proposed border wall, even if it comes via a reimbursement. Construction and the approval for the wall, Trump said, will start as soon as he takes office.

“In order to get the wall started, Mexico will pay for the wall. But it will be reimbursed. Okay?" Trump told reporters Wednesday during the first news conference as president-elect. “It will happen. Remember this, okay?”


As a presidential candidate, Trump repeatedly insisted that Mexico would pay for the cost of the wall. Asking his crowd of supporters who would pay for the wall became a featured part of Trump’s campaign rallies.

In response, both current and former Mexican officials have said the country will not pay for the costs.

"At the start of the conversation with Donald Trump, I made it clear that Mexico will not pay for the wall," Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto tweeted, after a September meeting with Trump in Mexico.

Alluding to the disagreement, the president-elect said negotiations with Mexico will commence after his inauguration.

Trump vowed the wall will not be delayed by any diplomatic back and fourth.

“I could wait about a year and a half until we finish our negotiations with Mexico, which we'll start immediately after we get to office, but I don't want to wait,” Trump said.