BORDER/MEXICO/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/WALL: “President Donald Trump revealed Wednesday [6-21-17] that he has proposed a ‘solar wall’ along the southern border, suggesting for the first time that the sun, and not Mexico, might pay for his signature campaign pledge.
Speaking at a rally in downtown Cedar Rapids, Trump declared that covering his planned border wall with solar panels would generate electricity and be ‘beautiful.’
‘We’re talking about the southern border. Lots of sun, lots of heat,’ he told the crowd. ‘We’re thinking about building the wall as a solar wall, so it creates energy and pays for itself.’
‘That way, Mexico will have to pay much less money, and that’s good,’ he joked. ‘Is that good?’
It marked the first time Trump has publicly proposed using the border wall as a solar power source, an idea he reportedly suggested to Republican congressional leaders in a closed-door meeting earlier this month. At least one of the border wall designs submitted to the Trump administration includes solar panels, according to proposals obtained by the Associated Press.
‘I mean, actually think of it,’ Trump said Wednesday. ‘The higher it goes, the more valuable it is. It’s like pretty good imagination, right? My idea.’
In front of the audience in Cedar Rapids, the idea raised a lot of questions, like what a solar border wall might look like and how much energy it would produce. Trump’s supporters seemed to have different pictures in their minds about what exactly the president was proposing.
Still, despite the lack of clarity, many were all for it.”
-Lissandra Villa, “Trump Wants To Cover His Border Wall With Solar Panels, And His Fans Are All In,” Buzzfeed News, June 22, 2017 03:56am