US President Donald Trump and his attorney general have maintained that Mexico will fund a proposed wall on the US-Mexico border, ahead of a budget battle in which disagreement over the project threatens a government shutdown.
Trump on Sunday repeated that his campaign pledge to build a wall will start early as Mexico will be paying for it in some form or the other.
“Eventually, but at a later date so we can get started early, Mexico will be paying, in some form, for the badly needed border wall,” he tweeted.
Meanwhile, Attorney General Jeff Sessions also told ABC News on Sunday that “we’re going to get paid for it one way or the other” and suggested federal tax credits sent by mistake to “mostly Mexicans” could cover the cost.
Despite maintaining that Mexico will pay, Trump also blamed opposition Democrats on Sunday for blocking US funding to start construction of the wall project.
“The Democrats don’t want money from budget going to border wall despite the fact that it will stop drugs and very bad MS 13 gang members,” Trump tweeted.
US government funding expires this coming Friday, with the government currently being funded by a continuing resolution passed in December 2016.
Should Trump push for money for the wall to be included in the next round of funding, the bill is likely to get blocked by Democrats, according to House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi.