Trump puts $8 bn price tag on his U.S.-Mexico border wall proposal

Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump on Tuesday finally put a price to one of his most controversial proposals, building a wall along the U.S.Mexico border paid for by the latter, claiming that it would cost $8 billion.

“The wall is probably $8 billion, which is a tiny fraction of the money that we lose with Mexico,” said Trump in an interview on MSNBC.

The New York magnate, who has been ahead in the polls in the runup to Tuesday’s Republican primary in New Hampshire, insisted that Mexico will be the one to pay for the controversial wall.

“We lose a tremendous amount of trade deficits. We have a trade deficit with Mexico that is astronomical, much bigger than that,” he said.

Regarding how he arrived at the price tag of $8 billion, Trump gave one of his extravagant replies.

“What we’re doing is we have 2,000 miles, right? ... Of the 2,000, ... we need 1,000 because we have natural barriers and I’m taking it price per square foot and a price per ... mile,” he said.

Trump said that the wall would be between 10 and 12 meters (35 to 40 feet) high, a “real wall” that “actually looks good, you know, as good as a wall is going to look.”

The Republican frontrunner said that the basic purpose of the wall will be to halt drug trafficking and illegal immigration northwards over the border.

Trump reiterated that he will make Mexico pay for the wall, but Mexican authorities have rejected his proposal as ridiculous.

“We are not going to pay a single cent” for any “stupid” wall, former Mexican President Felipe Calderon said in an interview with CNBC.