President Trump's Wall To Cost Billions More Than Expected: Report

President Donald Trump's border wall will cost around $21.6 billion, well above previous estimates from Republicans, and take more than three years to build, according to a report from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security obtained by Reuters.

Trump has frequently said the wall would cost between $10 billion and $12 billion; Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has priced it out around $12 billion to $15 billion.

Trump also promised during the campaign that Mexico will pay for the wall, but it's unclear exactly how that will work. One proposal to pay for the wall floated by the administration, a border adjustment tax, does not appear to actually shift the cost to Mexico.

However, if the federal government wants, it can just borrow money to pay for the wall or any other construction project. There may be political costs to doing so, but there's no practical necessity to "find the money" to build the wall.

According to Reuters, the report has not yet been presented to DHS Secretary John Kelly. The estimate comes from plans to build the wall across the entire Mexico-U.S. border, as Trump has frequently promised to do, covering 1,250 miles.

Read the full report at Reuters.

Photo credit: Eric White