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Trump Tweets Misleading Photos Claiming To Show Border Wall Construction

Trump Tweets Misleading Photos Claiming To Show Border Wall Construction

​Donald Trump has tweeted pictures that he suggested showed the progress of his US/Mexico border wall, but they're not what they seem

Paddy Maddison

Paddy Maddison

Donald Trump has tweeted pictures that he suggested showed the progress of his US/Mexico border wall, but it turns out they may not be quite what they seem.

Along with a message on a briefing he had attended about the wall, Trump posted several photos purporting to show it under construction.

However, what the snaps actually show is cranes replacing a two-mile stretch of fence last month that was first planned in 2009, reports the New York Post.


Describing the Calexico replacement project last month, the Associated Press said: "A barrier built in the 1990s from recycled metal scraps and landing mat will be torn down for bollard-style posts that are 30 feet high, significantly taller than existing walls".

The work was undertaken shortly before congress refused to fund Trump's wall in a budget deal signed by him.

Border Patrol agents said that the barrier replacement should not be confused with the construction of the wall that president Trump claimed Mexico would pay for.

"First and foremost, this isn't Trump's wall," Jonathan Pacheco, a spokesman for the Border Patrol's El Centro Sector, told a border tour in early March, the LA Times reported.

"This isn't the infrastructure that Trump is trying to bring in ... This new wall replacement has absolutely nothing to do with the prototypes that were shown over in the San Diego area.

"Although the existing wall has proven effective at deterring unlawful cross-border activity, smuggling organizations damaged and breached this outdated version of a border wall several hundred times during the last two years," he added.

Trump has faced criticism from his followers over his failure to secure the funds necessary to build his promised wall, but he has remained defensive.

"Much can be done with the $1.6 Billion given to building and fixing the border wall," he tweeted at the weekend. "It is just a down payment. Work will start immediately."

Trump has also recently asked house speaker Paul Ryan about the possibility of taking funds from the Pentagon budget, despite campaign promises about Mexico funding the construction.

Featured Image Credit: PA

Topics: News, US News, Mexico, Donald Trump, USA