Perhaps the most surprising thing about President Trump's vision for his southern border wall is the fact that he doesn't want to paint it gold.
Instead, he wants it to be painted "flat black," thinking that if it absorbs heat in the summer, migrants will not be able to climb it, current and former administration officials told The Washington Post on Thursday. Trump has been very vocal about how the wall should look, they said, down to the most mundane details; he even used to call former Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen early in the morning, waking her up, in order to discuss the barrier.
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.
All of the changes are adding up, the officials said, and Trump has been warned about the rising cost, especially if the fence is painted black. "Once you paint it, you always have to paint it," one official said. Trump often brings the project up during unrelated meetings, the Post reports, and he has been reveling in "describing in graphic terms the potential injuries that border crossers might receive." Read more about Trump's dream wall at The Washington Post.
-
Taiwan eyes Iron Dome-like defence against ChinaUnder the Radar President announces historic increase in defence spending as Chinese aggression towards autonomous island escalates
-
Political cartoons for November 30Cartoons Sunday's political cartoons include the Saudi-China relationship, MAGA spelled wrong, and more
-
Rothermere’s Telegraph takeover: ‘a right-leaning media powerhouse’Talking Point Deal gives Daily Mail and General Trust more than 50% of circulation in the UK newspaper market
-
Judge halts Trump’s DC Guard deploymentSpeed Read The Trump administration has ‘infringed upon the District’s right to govern itself,’ the judge ruled
-
Trump accuses Democrats of sedition meriting ‘death’Speed Read The president called for Democratic lawmakers to be arrested for urging the military to refuse illegal orders
-
Court strikes down Texas GOP gerrymanderSpeed Read The Texas congressional map ordered by Trump is likely an illegal racial gerrymander, the court ruled
-
Trump defends Saudi prince, shrugs off Khashoggi murderSpeed Read The president rebuked an ABC News reporter for asking Mohammed bin Salman about the death of a Washington Post journalist at the Saudi Consulate in 2018
-
Congress passes bill to force release of Epstein filesSpeed Read The Justice Department will release all files from its Jeffrey Epstein sex-trafficking investigation
-
Trump says he will sell F-35 jets to Saudi ArabiaSpeed Read The president plans to make several deals with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman this week
-
Judge blasts ‘profound’ errors in Comey caseSpeed Read ‘Government misconduct’ may necessitate dismissing the charges against the former FBI director altogether
-
Ecuador rejects push to allow US military basesSpeed Read Voters rejected a repeal of a constitutional ban on US and other foreign military bases in the country
