Trump Says ‘Toll’ on Mexico Border Crossings May Finance His Wall

(Bloomberg) -- President Donald Trump said his administration may impose a “toll” on cars crossing into the U.S. from Mexico to finance construction of his promised wall on the southern border.

“They’re going to pay at the border, at the gate, cars going through, we’re going to do a toll -- or we may do a toll,” Trump said during an event in Yuma, Arizona, where he touted construction of the wall.

The president has long faced criticism that he has failed to meet a campaign promise to make Mexico pay for the border wall. He has instead redirected billions of dollars from the Pentagon to finance construction, sparking a legal fight with the U.S. House, which did not authorize the spending.

“Mexico is paying for the wall, yeah,” he said in answer to a reporter’s questions about the claim Mexico would finance construction. Mexican officials have said they will never pay for the wall.

He and other officials at the Yuma event declined to say how much the toll would be, and moments later Trump said “we may do it as a tax, money being sent into Mexico” -- a reference to his occasional suggestion that the U.S. may tax remittances to the country.

©2020 Bloomberg L.P.