(Bloomberg View) -- President Donald Trump had a tweet the other day that was, as is so often the case, a bit ambiguous:
Did the M mean Military? Mexico? The leader of the British Secret Service? Calling Judi Dench!
Reports over the past week clarified that Trump is indeed contemplating the diversion of some of the Pentagon’s $700 billion budget to finance his beloved “big beautiful wall” on the southern border.
This clearly makes sense to a president used to doing pretty much whatever he wants with a budget. And the money -- around $30 billion for starters -- is certainly in the Pentagon’s till. But, for starters, it would put the kibosh on another oft-repeated campaign promise: rebuilding a 350-ship Navy. That’s enough money to build 15 much-needed Arleigh Burke destroyers.
In addition, if the president tried to use defense funds to build his wall, he would certainly face significant political and legal pushback from Congress across both parties. Lawmakers clearly have only authorized $1.6 billion toward the wall, not the full price tag. As the saying in Washington goes, “The Executive Branch proposes, the Congress disposes.”
Beyond the budget shenanigans, building a wall in the way Trump has so often described it -- as a singular structure stretching from the Pacific Ocean to the Gulf of Mexico -- would be a mistake on several practical grounds.
Let’s start with costs. Naturally, estimates vary, but reports from about a year ago pegged the price at somewhere between $30 billion and $70 billion, with annual maintenance costs up to $200 million. And, despite Trump’s ludicrous claim that Mexico would pay for it, it seems pretty clear that U.S. taxpayers would foot the bill.
Second, it is a terrible idea in terms of our relationships with our neighbors to the south. Whether we like it or not, there are strong perceptions throughout Latin America and the Caribbean that the U.S. has been at times an arrogant, irresponsible partner throughout much of our shared history. The U.S. has invaded countries in the region dozens of times over the past century and a half, from Mexico to Haiti to Nicaragua to the Dominican Republic.
When I was commander of U.S. Southern Command, charged with all military operations south of the border, I spent three years traveling to every country in the region. Americans tend not to remember their history of intervention, but believe me, it is living memory in the world to the south. Building a huge border wall sends a signal that we really do think of Latin America and the Caribbean as “America’s backyard,” a deeply offensive expression to those living there.
Over time, the wall would hurt relations with many countries, especially Mexico, America’s largest trading partner in the region. The U.S. needs cooperation from the south to address the flow of illegal aliens, the smuggling of narcotics, human trafficking and many other shared challenges. Washington needs to be building bridges, not walls, with its partners in the Americas.
A third reason not to build the wall is that it is not likely to have a great deal of practical effect. Yes, we could build a barrier 30 feet high and nearly 2,000 long, but here is a news flash: On the immediate left side of that wall is an ocean. I know this because I’m an admiral. If people want to get to the U.S. badly enough, they will sail here in a boat. Or tunnel under the wall. Others will smuggle people and goods through legal crossing points. The famed 20th-century columnist H.L. Mencken is credited with saying, “There is always a well-known solution to every human problem -- neat, plausible, and wrong.” The wall is exactly that.
Let’s think about what we should be doing. I’ve written before about a strategy for Latin America, but to summarize it:
- Gain better control over our southern border by a combination of technology (unmanned vehicle surveillance, advanced sensors); diplomacy and intelligence; and preserving Nafta after a reasonable renegotiation.
- Work closely with Brazil, Colombia and the Organization of American States on the political and economic crisis in Venezuela.
- Expand our regional counternarcotic cooperation through Southern Command’s Joint Interagency Task Force at Key West, Florida.
- Build strong military-to-military relationships through exercises and training partnerships (particularly using the National Guard and Coast Guard).
- Make the military base at Guantanamo Bay a regional hub for disaster relief and control of illegal migration at sea. (And think of eventually finding an alternative location for its detainees, probably a U.S. supermax prison.)
- Continue to expand our diplomatic and economic ties to Cuba -- which over time will be the death knell for the last pure dictatorship in the region.
All of that will require manpower and money. But a comprehensive strategy for Latin America and the Caribbean would be far less expensive than investments we have made overseas in other more distant areas, and would much more directly affect U.S. national interests. So, Mr. President, don’t build up that wall; instead let’s use the defense budget wisely in the region to improve America’s strategic position.
This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.
James Stavridis is a Bloomberg columnist. He is a retired U.S. Navy admiral and former military commander of NATO, and dean of the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. His most recent book is "Sea Power: The History and Geopolitics of the World's Oceans."
To contact the author of this story: James Stavridis at jstavridis@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Tobin Harshaw at tharshaw@bloomberg.net.
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