Ron DeSantis Accuses Donald Trump Of Not Using 'His Power' to Build The Border Wall

Ron DeSantis has criticized former President Donald Trump for not using "the levers of power that he had". In anticipation of the state's caucuses next month, DeSantis took part in a CNN town hall on Tuesday in Iowa. He also targeted one of the key points of contention from Trump's first presidential campaign: his pledge to build a wall between the United States and Mexico and have the Mexican government foot the bill.

As reported by The Hill, DeSantis said, "I am going to build the border wall, and I remember in 2016 — I went to the rallies with Donald Trump. He said he was going to build the wall and have Mexico pay for it, and that didn’t happen. And why didn’t it happen? Well, I think he got distracted and didn’t do it on day one. But two, he didn’t utilize the levers of power that he had." Remittance fees, according to DeSantis, may be used to fund the building of the border wall. The governor of Florida pointed out that while President Biden was mostly held accountable by Republicans for the immigrants entering the country illegally, he also assigned part of the responsibility to President Trump. DeSantis further went on to say, "If Trump had built the border wall, it would have been very difficult for Biden to bring in all those many people. That’s why you want a wall. It’s a physical fact of life, that even an open-border president would not be able to get around, so I will get the job done. The talk is cheap, and I’m sick of Republicans always using this issue every – every election cycle to try to get donations."

Trump's campaign platform in 2016 included a signature promise of building a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. During his administration, the government appropriated approximately $15 billion for the wall's construction, with a significant portion coming from the Defense Department's budget after Congress refused to provide the funding, resulting in a protracted government shutdown. Democrats and environmentalists both sharply criticized the wall, which was a regular subject of contention. Numerous lawsuits also targeted its financing and construction. The Trump administration had constructed 458 miles of what it called a "border wall system" when Biden halted fresh building on the wall. The wall is mostly made up of concrete-anchored steel bollards ranging from 18 to 30 feet. In some areas, the barriers also include parallel roadways, sensors, lighting, and cameras. The great majority of the 458 miles were built in areas where barriers previously existed; nonetheless, these earlier constructions, which comprised fencing and crude technological obstacles, were often significantly less imposing than the new wall. 

Apart from the border wall, DeSantis chastised Trump for skipping all of the Republican debates in 2023. As reported by the Daily Mail, he told CNN host Jake Tapper, "Debating is the bare minimum that a political candidate should do, and I will note that Donald Trump has refused to debate throughout this campaign. He doesn’t think he owes it to Iowans or Granite Staters to show up and debate and answer questions….nobody is entitled to this nomination you have to earn this nomination and part of the way you do it is that you show up, you answer people’s questions and you shake their hands. I am not running for me – this is about your issues, your family’s issues, and the future of this country."