President Donald Trump presented his plans for the federal budget on Wednesday, March 15, and among the expenses is the border wall that on the campaign he promised Mexico would pay for.
Under Trump's proposal, $4.1 billion of taxpayer money would go towards the construction of the massive project, with the breakdown splitting the bill so that $1.5 billion of it is covered this year and $2.6 billion of it is spent during the 2018 budget year, starting on October 1.
Based off of recent estimates, it would appear that the $4.1 billion Trump has pledged is marked up for a partial completion of the wall only, with the remainder of the cost being left for a future budget. According to the Department of Homeland Security, the total cost of the project should run in the area of $21.6 billion, over the span of three years. That number is considerably higher than the $12 billion Trump estimated it would take during his campaign.
Trump has admitted that citizens will foot the bill for the project for some months now, stating after his inauguration in January that Americans will have to shoulder the cost, but that he will flip the cost back on to Mexico in some form or fashion, at one point raising the possibility of imposing a 20% tariff on Mexican imports; a move that was ridiculed by some who speculate that it would only lead to Mexico increasing the price of goods, which would ultimately put the cost back on American consumers.
Source: huffingtonpost.com
