MSNBC host Tamron Hall on Tuesday pressed Donald Trump on his proposal to build a wall along the United States’ border with Mexico, asking how he would pay for the project.
“We have a country that’s in serious trouble. We have a country where people, they’re flowing across our borders. They’re coming across our borders like mad,” Trump told Hall while discussing immigration in a lengthy interview on MSNBC.
“They’re also being deported in larger numbers than any other administration,” Hall said in response, noting that President Obama has been criticized for stepping up deportations.
Hall then pivoted to Trump’s proposed wall, asking how much it would cost.
“The wall is probably $8 billion, which is a tiny fraction of the money that we lose with Mexico,” Trump replied. “We lose a tremendous amount on trade deficits. We have a trade deficit with Mexico that’s astronomical, much bigger than that.”
When asked how he calculated the cost of the wall, Trump said he multiplied the “number of miles by a certain — a very simple number.”
“You’re doing construction numbers, not real numbers. Not numbers of what it would cost,” Hall responded.
She then noted that Trump has mentioned the Great Wall of China while discussing his plan to build a wall.
“You bring up for example the Great Wall of China that was built with slave labor. You don’t have that in the United States,” she said.
“The great wall of China is 13,000 miles long,” he responded.
Then, while describing how he calculated the cost of building such a wall, Trump ultimately bragged that it would look fantastic.
“It’ll actually look good,” he said. “But we’re going to have big, beautiful doors and people will come into the country.”
“I don’t think people really care how beautiful the door is,” Hall hit back. “Who pays for this? Mexico has already said that it’s a ridiculous idea. The former president of Mexico yesterday said there’s no way. This is a silly idea. Who pays for this?”
Trump said it was “silly for Mexico,” but insisted that Mexico would fund the wall.
“How do you get Mexico to pay for it?” Hall asked.
“You tell them, ‘You’re going to pay for it,'” Trump replied.
During her interview with Trump, Hall also quizzed the Republican presidential candidate on his use of the word “pussy” at a Monday night rally and whether he would change his demeanor later in the race.
Watch part of the interview via MSNBC:
