Trump touts construction on older border fence during stop in Ohio

President Trump on Thursday again touted the progress of his border wall by referencing a fence repair project in California that was proposed long before his campaign began.

Speaking to a group of union workers in Richfield, Ohio, about his administration’s infrastructure initiative, Trump explained that construction on his proposed wall along the U.S.-Mexico border has begun.

“We started building our wall. I’m so proud of it,” he said.

“And we’ve already started, you saw the pictures yesterday. I said what a thing of beauty,” he added, referencing photos he tweeted on Wednesday.

Great briefing this afternoon on the start of our Southern Border WALL! pic.twitter.com/pmCNoxxlkH

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 28, 2018

However, Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen clarified that the photos Trump shared are of a wall being rebuilt in Calexico, Calif. 

This is just one of the wall projects @DHSgov will be constructing in the next year. This 30ft wall will help secure the area near Calexico, CA. https://t.co/eb68r1RlrL

— Sec. Kirstjen Nielsen (@SecNielsen) March 28, 2018

{mosads}That two-mile fencing initiative has been prioritized since 2009. Although it is a border fencing project, it is not part of the new border wall that Trump has touted since his presidential campaign.

On Thursday, Trump continued to promote the wall and noted that a recently signed funding bill allocates $1.6 billion for the project. He explained that the structure will be “state of the art” and “see-through.”

“People said, ‘Oh has he given up on the wall?’ No, I never give up. We have 1.6 billion [dollars] toward the wall,” Trump said. 

“And you saw those beautiful pictures and the wall looks good. It’s properly designed,” he continued. “That’s what I do is I build. I was always very good at building. It was always my best thing. I think better than being president I was maybe good at building. Like you people, you’re good at building.” 

The omnibus funding bill passed last week covers just a portion of the wall’s total projected cost. In recent days, the president has reportedly said privately that funding for the border wall could come from the military if the wall is cited as a national security necessity.