Photo by John Shinkle for POLITICO. McConnell on Mexico paying for the border wall: 'Uh, no'

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Thursday threw cold water on President Donald Trump’s insistence that Mexico will pay for his proposed border wall.

“Uh, no,” McConnell said flatly, asked whether he thinks Mexico will foot the bill in an interview with POLITICO Playbook’s Jake Sherman and Anna Palmer.


If constructed, a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border is expected, by some estimates, to cost $14 billion, if not much more. Even many Republicans are skeptical of the proposal because of the cost, and its biggest critics argue that it's unnecessary in addition to expensive.

Mexico's president has made clear that the country has no intention of paying for Trump’s wall, though Trump has refused so far to accept that. The tiff over the border wall question and Trump’s hard-line stance on immigration more broadly created a rift between him and Mexico in the first days of his presidency.