DeSantis: Trump could have made Mexico pay for border wall

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) on Wednesday took aim at former President Trump over his “failure” to make Mexico pay for the wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.

DeSantis said Trump, the 2024 presidential GOP front-runner, was “rationalizing that failure” by claiming he had no way to make Mexico pay.

“I do think when he’s saying things, like in Iowa the other day that well, you know, he couldn’t follow his campaign promise to have Mexico … pay for the border wall because there was, quote, no legal mechanism he could have used to have Mexico pay,” DeSantis said during an interview on The Hill on NewsNation. “He’s rationalizing that failure.”

“The problem is that was his main campaign promise,” DeSantis said. “I was at the rallies. It was fun. Everyone was cheering that.”

DeSantis suggested the former president was making “excuses” about Mexico not contributing funding and pledged to follow through on that campaign promise if he becomes president. 

“When he’s saying that he couldn’t get the job done, look, I wanted to send the message: I will get the job done. I’m not going to make excuses,” the governor said. “We’re done with the excuses. We’ve got to figure out a way to do it.”

“And I will deal with the border. I’ll have the wall,” he continued. “We’ll take on the drug cartels, which is really what should have happened a long time ago.”

DeSantis laid out his plan to make Mexico pay, claiming Trump could have imposed certain fees.

“There actually was a way he could have done that. He could have imposed fees,” he said. “And I will do this as president.”

“You could have imposed fees on the remittances that people send to foreign countries, Mexico included,” he added. “That would raise millions of dollars.”

The Florida Republican, who has fallen in the polls in recent months, has increased his attacks on Trump — his chief rival in the 2024 GOP primary — while touting his own competency at achieving policy goals.

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