Hours after throwing Washington into a frenzy with his surprise decision to fire Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, President Trump skipped town Tuesday, traveling to San Diego to examine prototypes for his signature border wall that have been constructed at the U.S.-Mexico border.

“The larger it is, the better it is, because it’s very hard to get over the top,” Trump said, looking up at the eight towering slabs of concrete and steel. “These are like professional mountain climbers. You’re incredible climbers. They can’t climb some of these walls. Some of them they can—those are the walls we’re not using.”