President Trump dismissed a report that said he proposed putting alligators or snakes in a moat and that he wanted the border wall to be electrified with sharp spikes to deter undocumented immigrants from crossing the U.S.-Mexico border as “fake news.”
Trump, however, did not deny that he asked border officials to shoot migrants in the legs, as reported by the New York Times on Tuesday.
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“Now, the press is trying to sell the fact that I wanted a Moat stuffed with alligators and snakes, with an electrified fence and sharp spikes on top, at our Southern Border,” Trump tweeted Wednesday.
“I may be tough on Border Security, but not that tough. The press has gone Crazy. Fake News!”
Now the press is trying to sell the fact that I wanted a Moat stuffed with alligators and snakes, with an electrified fence and sharp spikes on top, at our Southern Border. I may be tough on Border Security, but not that tough. The press has gone Crazy. Fake News!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 2, 2019
The president again denied the reporting while speaking with reporters in the Oval Office on Wednesday afternoon.
“Obviously it’s fake,” Trump claimed, attacking the Washington Post even though it was the New York Times that published the story. “I call the fake news, now, corrupt news because fake isn’t tough enough.”
During private discussions on border security, Trump reportedly floated the extreme ideas to stop migrants from crossing into the United States. At one point, he suggested border officials shoot migrants if they threw rocks. Staff told Trump that would be illegal. He later suggested they shoot migrants in the legs to slow them down but was also told that was illegal.
Despite Trump’s claims that he has not proposed a border wall with spikes on top, the president shared a photo of the design of the border wall in December 2018 that zoomed in on spikes at the top of the slats.
A design of our Steel Slat Barrier which is totally effective while at the same time beautiful! pic.twitter.com/sGltXh0cu9
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 21, 2018
