At a press conference Tuesday at Mar-a-Lago, President-elect Donald Trump once again criticized the Biden administration for selling border wall materials for “five cents on the dollar,” saying, “These people hate our country.” It’s either that, or it’s not.” they are stupid ”
He also accused the private company controlling border wall sales of trying to sell the materials back to the incoming administration at a hefty premium.
“You know what they did. They called us and said, ‘We’ll sell it back to you for 200 cents.’ In other words, it’s double what we paid.” he said. “So they were going to buy it from this guy. [President Joe Biden] For $1.50. They were making a deal. ”
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After abruptly halting most border wall construction in 2021, the Biden administration has been auctioning off parts of the border wall since at least 2023, with pieces on the auction market.
Defense Department officials said in December that the materials being sold through online auctions had already been sold by the federal government in early 2024, with the majority of the materials sold to a government surplus retailer called Gov Planet. He told FOX News Digital. .
Following a lawsuit by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, the Biden administration agreed to a court order halting further sales of the wall material.
In a speech in December, President Trump said the Biden administration’s sale of a border wall was “almost a criminal act” and would cost American taxpayers “hundreds of millions of dollars.”
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A pile of unused border fence sits at one of the border wall construction preparation areas on Monday, April 12, 2021, at the Johnson Ranch near Columbus, New Mexico. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc, via Getty Images)
President Trump said Tuesday that a private retailer called him and asked him to pay 200 cents for it because it was readily available and a bargain.
But in response, President Trump said, “Do you know what ‘immediately’ is? Just leave it at that.”
“Fortunately, we had a very wise judge who calmly put a stop to it,” he continued. “But think about it: They were selling a wall, and it was exactly what the Border Patrol wanted, the wall they designed. Steel, concrete, rebar…all top-of-the-line, very It was expensive. It’s twice what we paid for it six years ago. ”
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President Donald Trump inspects a portion of the border wall in San Luis, Arizona, Tuesday, June 23, 2020. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
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“Either these people hate our country or they’re very stupid,” President Trump said of the Biden administration.
“They were trying to sell the wall for 5 cents on the dollar and resell it to us for less than 200 cents, but 200 cents on the dollar,” he said. “That trade is like everything else these people do.”
Peter Pinedo is a political writer for Fox News Digital.
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