- President Donald Trump has offered to pardon officials who break the law to complete hundreds of miles of barrier along the US-Mexico border, the Washington Post reported Tuesday.
- According to the Post, Trump ordered officials to fast-track contracts worth billions of dollars, violate environmental rules and seize private land to get the wall done by 2020.
- Trump's plan to build a wall along the Mexican border is stalled in Congress, and he has instead pledged to build hundreds of miles of fence by next year.
- Trump denied the report, saying it was meant to "demean and disparage."
- For more stories go to www.businessinsider.co.za.
US President Donald Trump has reportedly told officials that he will pardon them if they break the law to finish hundreds of miles of fence along the US-Mexico border by 2020, the Washington Post reported Tuesday.
Officials told the publication that Trump directed them to fast-track construction contracts worth billions, seize private land and ignore environmental laws to complete the construction of hundreds of miles of border fence.
The officials said the president was dangling the prospect of a pardon for those prosecuted for breaking the law in the building process.
Later Tuesday, Trump denied the report, which was based on interviews with multiple current and former officials.
"Another totally Fake story in the Amazon Washington Post (lobbyist) which states that if my Aides broke the law to build the Wall (which is going up rapidly), I would give them a Pardon," Trump wrote on Twitter. "This was made up by the Washington Post only in order to demean and disparage - FAKE NEWS!"
One White House official told the Post that the president was "joking" when he made the claims.
Construction crews continue work on the new border wall system along the SW border near San Luis, AZ. In partnership with @USACEHQ, CBP has constructed over 60 miles of new border wall system along the SW border since 2017 and expects to complete 450 miles by the end of 2020. pic.twitter.com/ZMVqVteMUN
— CBP (@CBP) August 25, 2019
Trump's pledge to build a wall on the US-Mexico border to keep out undocumented migrants was the signature of his 2016 presidential election campaign.
But the plan has been stalled in Congress amidst opposition from Democrats who have refused to approve the $5 billion funding demanded by the president.
Instead, Trump in February declared a National Emergency on the border, using money from the Pentagon and also the Treasury to fund construction of the border wall.
With the 2020 election looming, Trump has pledged to build 500 miles of additional fencing along the border. Only about 60 miles has been completed thus far during his presidency.
On Sunday, Customs and Border Patrol tweeted footage of a stretch of the new fence that has been constructed in Arizona
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