Story highlights The biggest thing Trump wants is the biggest thing Democrats want to deny him

This spring, the White House accepted a budget deal that did not include the wall

Washington (CNN) Building a border wall remains a stated top priority for President Donald Trump, but thus far he has precious little to show for it.

That's largely because when Congress appropriated money earlier this year to fund the government, opposition from Democrats and some Republicans alike left the administration empty handed in terms of funding any new construction.

Trump's Department of Homeland Security did get permission to reassign $20 million to fund prototypes for wall construction as well as new money for technology, maintenance and hiring for Border Patrol.

But the biggest thing Trump wants remains the biggest thing Democrats want to deny him -- the ability to point at a structure and say: Here is the wall.

Multiple sources familiar with negotiations for both the fiscal year 2017 budget and 2018 cycle say that the White House did mobilize behind the wall -- putting it in their proposed budget and having representatives like Budget Director Mick Mulvaney and Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly stump for it.

Read More