The New York magnate cleared the imaginary wall to take home the imaginary gold
The wall dividing the United States and Mexico is, as of yet, unbuilt. But that didn’t stop Donald Trump from winning the gold medal in the realm of political gymnastics.
While Trump discussed building this wall with Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto, when the two met last week, he soared clear of one petty pecuniary part: who would pay for it.
“We did discuss the wall,” Trump told reporters in a Q&A session following his private talk with Peña Nieto. “We didn’t discuss payment of the wall. That’ll be for a later date.” However, Peña Nieto later tweeted that he did make it clear to Trump at the beginning of the conversation: Mexico would not pay for the wall.
Given that the wall is estimated to cost between $15 and $25 billion, as reported by The Washington Post, deciding who’s going to pay for it is a little more serious than deciding who’s going to pay for the first date – we’re settled on ‘you ask, you pay,’ though – right Donald?
While it’s still uncertain who will pay the bill, one thing is certain: Trump may one day be president.
And as president of the self-proclaimed “freest nation in the world,” Trump must lead by example.
In theory, he should be building society up by tearing down the walls that divide us. However, his behaviour so far, mired in the past, seems more insistent on taking us all two steps back.
If anyone should be taking two steps back, it’s Trump himself so that he can learn from past president and Republican favourite, Ronald Reagan.
On June 12, 1987, Reagan stood in front of the Berlin Wall and delivered a speech that torched the pages of history. He called on Mikhail Gorbachev, leader of the Soviet Union, to tear down the wall dividing East and West Berlin. “If you seek peace, if you seek prosperity, … if you seek liberalization, Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate,” he said. “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!”
Today, Trump’s turn away from Reagan’s anti-wall politics would make the 40th president turn over in his grave.
