‘President’s madcap and illegal ideas’
BY CHRISTOPHER BUCKTIN DONALD Trump suggested shooting illegal immigrants in the legs to slow them down, a new book claims.
It also says the US President wanted to electrify his border wall and surround it with a moat full of snakes or alligators.
Another plan was to have fierce spikes on top of the barrier, the authors add.
He was so serious about the ideas, his aides carried out costings, according to the book – Border Wars: Inside Trump’s Assault on Immigration.
It says he exploded with rage when advisers told him his suggestions were unworkable, illegal or would cost a fortune.
Trump apparently yelled at officials: “You are making me look like an idiot... I ran on this. It’s my issue.”
His ideas for stopping illegal entry into the US from Mexico were aired in explosive meetings with staff in March. At one point, he is said to have become so enraged he ordered White House aides to shut down the entire 2000-mile border by noon the next day.
Advisers feared the move would trap US tourists in Mexico and leave kids stranded at schools on both sides of the border. The authors say another Trump idea was to paint the wall black to absorb heat to make it harder to climb.
But the then Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen informed him it would cost £810,000 per mile.
When Trump wanted construction to be sped up, she told him he needed permission from landowners. He apparently told her they should take the land and let property owners sue them.
The authors, New York Times journalists Michael D. Shear and Julie Hirschfeld Davis, say they spoke to over a dozen officials involved in the events.
Trump yesterday denied the claims.
He tweeted: “Now the press is trying to sell the fact that I wanted a moat stuffed with alligators and snakes, with an electrified fence and sharp spikes on top... I may be tough on Border Security, but not that tough. The press has gone Crazy. Fake News.” Little of his wall has been built.
Bernie Sanders, 78, a 2020 Democratic presidential candidate, has axed several campaign events after surgery. He required two stents in a blocked artery.
Border Wars: Inside Trump’s Assault on Immigration is out on October 8.