Donald Trump wanted a US-Mexico border wall to feature a moat filled with snakes and alligators, according to a new book.

The president also allegedly wanted the wall to be electrified, with spikes on top sharp enough to pierce skin, and for border jumpers to be shot in the legs.

Excerpts from the book Border Wars: Inside Trump's Assault On Immigration, have been published in The New York Times and reveal the ideas floated by the Mr Trump during Oval Office meetings.

Image: The president reportedly wanted to fill a moat with alligators and snakes

In an effort to stop the influx of immigrants, Mr Trump publicly threatened to shut down the entire 2,000-mile border with Mexico in March.

The book, written by New York Times journalists Michael D Shear and Julie Hirschfield Davis, reveals that the president demanded the shutdown happen by noon the next day.


But his advisers feared that American tourists could be trapped in Mexico, children could be stranded at schools on both sides of the border, and an economic meltdown could ensue.

Mr Trump reportedly shouted: "You are making me look like an idiot! I ran on this. It's my issue."

Mr Shear and Ms Hirschfield Davis say advisers, including then homeland secretary chief Kirstjen Nielsen and Jared Kushner, left the meeting "in a near panic" and had tried to change the president's mind when given a week-long extension.

President Trump later tried to press on with shutting down the border, telling then customs and border protection chief Kevin McAleenan to stop admitting migrants and offering to pardon him if he got into trouble.

Image: Mr Trump threatened to shut down the entire border in March

Later that week, he told Border Patrol agents to "start turning migrants away at the border" and "keep them all out".

However Mr McAleenan later told the agents they did not have the authority to stop migrant processing and should ignore the president's orders.

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Aides reportedly recalled Mr Trump suggested in a meeting that migrants could be shot in the legs "to slow them down", although he was told that this would be illegal.

He also called for the wall to be fortified with electric spikes "that could pierce human flesh" and a "water-filled trench" which would be "stocked with snakes or alligators".

White House aides allegedly sought a "cost estimate" for the alligator-filled moat.

Image: Mr Trump allegedly called for the border wall to be fortified with electric spikes

Thomas D Homan, who served as the president's acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said: "The president was frustrated and I think he took that moment to hit the reset button.

"The president wanted it to be fixed quickly."