The sands & the mirage

Don’s idea for 3,000-mile Sahara wall

President Trump told Spain’s foreign minister that he had a sure-fire solution that would prevent African asylum-seekers from flooding European shores — build a wall across the 3,000mile Sahara Desert.

Foreign Minister Josep Borrell, a former president of the European Parliament, revealed that Trump told him that a border wall in the desert — like his long promised wall on the Mexican border — could do the job for Europe as well, The Express reported.

Borrell said the president scoffed at Spanish diplomats’ skepticism after they noted that the Sahara stretched for 3,000 miles.

“The Sahara border can’t be bigger than our border with Mexico,” Trump insisted, although the US-Mexico border measures 1,954 miles, according to the federal government.

Twitter wags quickly weighed in on the president’s plan.

“Me at age 10: Hey, we could irrigate the Sahara! Trump, at age 72: Hey, we could build a wall across the Sahara!” posted Bloomberg writer Noah Smith.

“Morocco will pay for it, I assume?” added Rolling Stone scribe Tim Dickinson.

“Warning: May contain nuts. Donald Trump urged Spain to ‘build the wall’ – across the Sahara,” tweeted South African radio host Neil Johnson.

The Spaniard did not reveal when Trump floated the plan, although other sources said it was in June, when Spain’s king and queen were visiting the White House.

Borrell mentioned Trump’s Saharan solution — in which Spain and other European countries would apparently have to construct the barrier on foreign soil — during a meeting on world affairs this week in Madrid.

The Spanish daily El Pais said the minister made it clear at the gathering that he disagreed with Trump’s proposal.

Spain has overtaken Italy and Greece as a popular entry point for African refugees, with most coming from Morocco, Guinea and Mali.

The Senate this week passed a massive spending bill that did not include new funding for Trump’s proposed Mexico-border barrier, kicking the issue down the road until after the midterm elections.

Trump has warned of a government shutdown if money for the wall is not included in the spending bill but has hinted he might not follow through on that threat.