Kelly Says Trump Now Believes Border Wall Is Unnecessary

[luckyshot]

"White House Chief of Staff John Kelly told a caucus of Hispanic lawmakers on Wednesday that he has persuaded President Trump that building a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border is unnecessary...

"Kelly, who was secretary of Homeland Security before taking over as chief of staff in July, said that candidate Trump had not been 'fully informed' about the border situation."
https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo...trump-now-believes-border-wall-is-unnecessary

Is everyone else having as much fun as I am watching this colossal dump of an idea spun and re-spun ad infinitum ?

At this point a few things are clear:
1. The wall is an inefficient use of funds
2. Mexico isn't going to pay for it
3. Trump wants a politically defensible "out"
4. It's not clear that #3 exists, so...

 

[Falsedawn]

Oh @luckyshot, you know it wouldn't be Dolan without a clown fiesta lmao.

http://www.rollcall.com/news/politics/trump-contradicts-kelly-claims-wall-views-not-evolved

Contradicting his chief of staff, Donald Trump on Thursday claimed his thinking about a southern border wall has not “evolved,” and returned to his vow that Mexico, one way or another, will pay for it.

Kelly first described Trump’s views on the U.S.-Mexico border barrier as changed during a Wednesday morning meeting with the Congressional Hispanic Caucus on Capitol Hill. The retired Marine Corps four-star general kept up his rare public remarks about the controversial Trump campaign pledge during an evening cable news interview.

 

[Quipling]

I have no problems with this outcome.

Gonna be a bit weird when the pro-wall trumpeters start claiming that they never really wanted a wall either, though.

 

[Rational Poster]

 

[OverCoronavirus Pressure]

Politicians and promises

 

[ShoelessRye]

Trump could have easily pointed to the drop in attempted crossings and say "my other measures have greatly slowed the illegal crossing attempts so much so that a wall might not be necessary afterall".

Poor illegals might walk their ass across the border, drugs ain't coming through that way. You don't need a wall to stop humans from crossing - tech options are much cheaper and more efficient.

Trump is now saying in addition to having to be see through, it of course wouldn't be needed around natural barriers like mountains, rivers or wastelands.

There already is fences in these areas.

Fun fact is that the campaign advisers never talked about a wall on the border because advisers know it's valueless and ridiculously expensive and none of the states want it, Trump brought it up on the stump and it got huge applause, and he's wanted it ever since. Attempts by his staff to make it "a virtual wall" was not enough for Trump.

 

[Fawlty]

I have no problems with this outcome.

Gonna be a bit weird when the pro-wall trumpeters start claiming that they never really wanted a wall either, though.

Yeah this is going to be really awkward, but there is a serious possibility that a lot of his xenodrones will turn on him even though they are mostly brain dead. Historically, going back on your main campaign promise hurts ("read my lips"). We'll get a lot of the Orwell-speak crazy ones in the WR to claim they didn't want a wall, but the real human beings are not going to like this.

And lmfao at Trump claiming his wall plan has not evolved. I mean really.

 

[kpt018]

I have no problems with this outcome.

Gonna be a bit weird when the pro-wall trumpeters start claiming that they never really wanted a wall either, though.

Exactly. Being convinced by better information that you were wrong and now are taking the correct action is the only reasonable thing to do.

But regardless, it looks terrible for Trump. He was obviously badly informed and this was probably the biggest thing he ran on during the campaign (if not it was top 3).

 

[Rod1]

There are tons of ways out of the wall promise.

Finishing the fencing and calling it a wall or claiming that a "wall" was going to be a "wall of security brought by increased HS funding" or a "cyber wall of drones and sensors".

 

[SaiWa]

I was promised a wall and I wanna see this shit (without my tax dollars going towards it)!!!!

granted I didn't vote for Trump but all the same... I want to see this fuckin' wall!!!

 

[Fawlty]

I was promised a wall and I wanna see this shit (without my tax dollars going towards it)!!!!

granted I didn't vote for Trump but all the same... I want to see this fuckin' wall!!!

So you want it, but you don't want to pay for it.

 

[Rational Poster]

But I really wanted to send men into the desert to die building a wall to stop traffic that doesn't exist.

 

[HereticBD]

The border dome is still in the works though, right?

 

[The Diplomat]

Wall was never going to be made. Mexico was never going to pay for it. It was a campaign slogan. Dumb people ate it up, other dumb people got enraged by it.

to stop traffic that doesn't exist.

 

[OverCoronavirus Pressure]

So you want it, but you don't want to pay for it.

I want a fucking dome built to enclose the country but I don't want to pay for it.

 

[Andy Capp]

To me, the point is not will he or won't he, because I felt fairly sure it was never going to happen. It's what will his supporters say once it's made clear he's definitely not going to do it.

 

[ShoelessRye]

There are tons of ways out of the wall promise.

Finishing the fencing and calling it a wall or claiming that a "wall" was going to be a "wall of security brought by increased HS funding" or a "cyber wall of drones and sensors".

Maybe at one time. But Trump has waxed poetic about a large physical barrier, high enough so a catapault couldn't fling 20lbs of drugs over, and see through at parts so you could see the flying drugs coming.

 

[tehend]

It was always supposed to be a metaphorical wall. Come on guys.

 

[Rational Poster]

Wall was never going to be made. Mexico was never going to pay for it. It was a campaign slogan. Dumb people ate it up, other dumb people got enraged by it.

The human activity the desert would see building the wall would be exponentially larger than any human traffic through it currently.

 

[MicroBrew]

5..4..3..2..1..Trump supporters will come and tell us all how this is ok.

Sounds very much like Trump administration is slowly but surely laying the groundwork for backing away from Trump's campaign promise .

At this point, it does not look like Trump is ever going to build the Wall like he said. He very well may build a wall in a few places, to make it seem like he fulfilled his promise, but for most of the border I do not believe there will be a Wall.

This is the beginning of Trump's "read my lips, no new taxes" moment.