Fox News' Shep Smith swiftly fact-checks Trump's claim that wall construction is underway


Early on Tuesday, President Trump expressed that he was not happy with the preliminary bipartisan deal in place to avoid another government shutdown. But he also added that he was "thrilled" with where things were going overall and that "the bottom line is we're building a lot of wall."
Fox News anchor Shep Smith quickly dismantled this notion, reminding viewers that the president has "been saying this for a while now, but it's simply not true." Instead, Smith said that workers "have replaced and repaired sections of the existing wall and fences, but so far they have not built anything new."
He added that the new deal — if it passes through Congress and the president signs it — "could create 55 miles of new fencing and border," but no wall. Smith did say that there is "some wiggle room" in the new deal "that could allow the president to add more money for his proposed wall and more money for detaining people."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Smith also fact-checked Trump's declaration at his rally in El Paso on Monday evening that the city's wall "turned a violent city safe." Smith pointed out that violent crime was at a historically low level in the Texas city when Congress authorized the El Paso section of steel fence in 2006. Watch Smith's full debunking at Mediaite.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.
-
Fed leaves rates unchanged as Powell warns on tariffs
speed read The Federal Reserve says the risks of higher inflation and unemployment are increasing under Trump's tariffs
-
Denmark to grill US envoy on Greenland spying report
speed read The Trump administration ramped up spying on Greenland, says reporting by The Wall Street Journal
-
Supreme Court allows transgender troop ban
speed read The US Supreme Court will let the Trump administration begin executing its ban on transgender military service members
-
Hollywood confounded by Trump's film tariff idea
speed read President Trump proposed a '100% tariff' on movies 'produced in foreign lands'
-
Trump offers migrants $1,000 to 'self-deport'
speed read The Department of Homeland Security says undocumented immigrants can leave the US in a more 'dignified way'
-
Trump is not sure he must follow the Constitution
speed read When asked about due process for migrants in a TV interview, President Trump said he didn't know whether he had to uphold the Fifth Amendment
-
Trump judge bars deportations under 1798 law
speed read A Trump appointee has ruled that the president's use of a wartime act for deportations is illegal
-
Trump ousts Waltz as NSA, taps him for UN role
speed read President Donald Trump removed Mike Waltz as national security adviser and nominated him as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations