Trump Thought It Would Only Take Three Days to Get Mexico to Pay for the Wall

Hint: It was never going to happen in the first place.

Scott Bixby
01.11.19 5:13 AM ET

Nearly three weeks into a federal shutdown that has stalled immigration courts, driven unpaid TSA workers to walk off the job, cancelled long-planned border inspections, and left America’s national parks overflowing with poop, President Donald Trump has so far refused to back down from his position that the government’s doors must remain closed until Congress appropriates funds for a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.

But in the face of a breakdown of government services threatening America’s economy, security, and even food supply, a long-promised initial Trump plan for the border—to force Mexico, over the course of three days, to cut a $10 billion check made out to the U.S. Treasury—has been missing from the debate.

That proposal, titled “COMPELLING MEXICO TO PAY FOR THE WALL,” was the stuff of MAGA fan fiction. Rolled out in a two-page memo in April 2016, the plan, now deleted from the Trump campaign website but retrieved through web archives, was a surprisingly detailed strategy—by Trump campaign standards—for forcing Mexico to cut an 11-figure check to the United States.

The scheme entailed a three-day diplomatic high-wire act touching on creative interpretations of national security legislation, international finance, and the finer art of ransom, all meant to take place during Trump’s first three days in office.

more
https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-thought-it-would-only-take-three-days-to-get-mexico-to-pay-for-the-wall?ref=home