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Donald Trump orders his Mexican wall to be painted black at a cost of up to $3 BILLION more claiming it will make it too hot to touch in summer

Donald Trump is again insisting the southern border wall be painted black so it will attract the sun and be hot to the touch – deterring a...

Donald Trump is again insisting the southern border wall be painted black so it will attract the sun and be hot to the touch – deterring any considering climbing over the wall, especially in summer months.
According to government contracting estimates obtained by The Washington Post, the cost of painting the entire border wall black would add a minimum of $500 million in costs for acrylic paint, but could top $3 billion if a premium 'powder coating' is used.
'POTUS has changed his mind and now wants the fence painted. We are modifying contracts to add,' one official involved in the construction effort told the Post.
The instruction came during a border wall meeting at the White House last month amid the coronavirus outbreak, four administration officials with knowledge of the meeting revealed.
They also said that Trump directed Jared Kushner and other aides to move forward with the paint job and to acquire cost estimates.
Donald Trump wants the border wall painted black because he claims it will absorb heat and deter wall-jumpers. This is not the first time the president has floated this costly idea
Donald Trump wants the border wall painted black because he claims it will absorb heat and deter wall-jumpers. This is not the first time the president has floated this costly idea
'POTUS has changed his mind and now wants the fence painted. We are modifying contracts to add,' an official involved in construction said. The paint job would cost between $500 million and $3 billion
'POTUS has changed his mind and now wants the fence painted. We are modifying contracts to add,' an official involved in construction said. The paint job would cost between $500 million and $3 billion

This isn't the first time Trump has floated painting the border wall black, but military commanders and border officials thought they had talked him out of it last fall.
Reports have emerged in the past over Trump's obsession with micromanaging the physical appearance of his famed border wall.
In May 2019, a Post report revealed Trump had floated painting the 'slats' of the border wall a 'flat black' so the metal would absorb more heat from the sun and make it harder for people to scale.
Trump also said he wanted the border barrier to include metal spikes at the top that will cut climbers' hands.
Fisher Sand and Gravel, a South Dakota-based company already being considered for $400 million contract to build new portions of wall in Arizona, were consulted to provide estimates for painting.
They provided the $500 million - $3 billion estimates for painting the structure's 30-foot steel bollards depending on the option of paint, which the White House has not yet chosen.
The president, however, has insisted in the past that the barrier be black to discourage climbers – and he has expressed he prefers a 'flat black' or 'matte black' because it would absorb and retain heat.
Trump has reupped in recent weeks his demand for strong borders and his campaign promise of a border wall, also claiming that the structure and immigration policy have acted as a defense against coronavirus spreading into the U.S. from other countries.  
He now claims the border wall is not only to stop illegal immigration, but also a point of public health.
'Mexico is sadly experiencing very big CoronaVirus problems, and now California, get this, doesn't want people coming over the Southern Border. A Classic!' Trump tweeted Tuesday.
'They are sooo lucky that I am their President,' he gloated. 'Border is very tight and the Wall is rapidly being built!'
Trump now claims the border wall is a point of public health, claiming it will stop infected individuals from spreading coronavirus by illegally crossing the border into the U.S.
Trump now claims the border wall is a point of public health, claiming it will stop infected individuals from spreading coronavirus by illegally crossing the border into the U.S. 

'Border Wall is going up FAST,' he said in another tweeted Saturday with a video showing new portions being constructed in California. 'Over 172 miles already built. 450 miles by early next year, or sooner! Dems want OPEN BORDERS. I want STRONG BORDERS!'
Other than paint and spikes, Trump has proposed some other measures he assured would be more physically appealing and deter people from scaling the wall.
At one point he considered a design plan that included a field-tested anti-climbing surface and rounded metal cylinders at the top. But he ditched that idea, claiming metal points would be more intimidating.
Trump also originally wanted a concrete barrier, but said he is OK with a steel 'slatted' fence.
In October 2019, Trump slashed down an assertion in a book written by two New York Times reporters indicating that he once considered adding a moat filled with snakes and alligators to his border wall plans.
'Never said it. Never thought of it,' he told journalists in the Oval Office last fall, blasting it as 'corrupt news.'

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