Corporation for Public Broadcasting

The Cost Of Trump’s Wall Compared To The Programs He’s Proposing To Cut

A protester dressed as a diabolical version of Uncle Sam holds a suitcase full of money at the U.S. border fence in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, Sunday, Feb. 26, 2017. (AP/Christian Torres)
The fiscal 2018 price for President Trump’s border wall is in: $2.6 billion. That’s a cost to U.S. taxpayers, not a cost many people any longer think will be picked up by the Mexican government.
As first installments go, it’s a pretty big number. Indeed, its size can be appreciated in one powerful way by setting it against some of the many budget cuts Trump proposed this week.