In the midst of the government shutdown over funding of President Donald Trump’s border wall, the president tweeted a bizarre justification for wanting to build a barrier between Mexico and the United States, saying that former President Barack Obama has a “ten foot Wall” surrounding his home in Washington, D.C. But thanks to reporting by the Washington Post, we know that is patently false.

President and Mrs. Obama built/has a ten foot Wall around their D.C. mansion/compound. I agree, totally necessary for their safety and security. The U.S. needs the same thing, slightly larger version! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 30, 2018





It turns out the president was completely making up this assertion. According to one neighbor who spoke with the Post: “There’s a fence that goes along the front of the house, but it’s the same as the other neighbors have. It’s tastefully done.”

And another neighbor confirmed to the paper that the house is “100 percent visible from the street.”

While there is a fence and a guard house blocking part of the driveway to the Obamas’ $8.1 million-dollar home, installed by the Secret Service, the Post’s fact checker confirms the front of the house is open to the street, and nothing blocks the stairs leading up to the front door. And the mansion, located in the Kalorama neighborhood of D.C., certainly isn’t a compound, like Trump alleged.

Trump also claimed in his tweet that his proposed border wall would be a “slightly larger version” of the wall he accused the Obamas of having. But even that was stretching the truth. His desired border wall would be three or four times as tall and thousands of miles long, significantly larger than the imaginary fence around President Obama’s house.