--- title: Jimmy Kimmel Knows How to Pay for Trump Border Wall description: The late night host has a money-saving alternative to building the border wall that Trump wants between the U.S. and Mexico canonical: https://time.com/5118696/jimmy-kimmel-on-trump-wall/ author: Melissa Locker article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-01-25T17:27:33.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:47:21.735Z og:title: Jimmy Kimmel Has a Grand Idea to Pay for Trump's Wall og:description: The late night host has a money-saving alternative to building the border wall og:url: https://time.com/5118696/jimmy-kimmel-on-trump-wall/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Jimmy Kimmel Has a Grand Idea to Pay for Trump's Wall twitter:description: The late night host has a money-saving alternative to building the border wall twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Jimmy Kimmel Has an Elaborate Idea to Pay for Trump's Border Wall > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=c12dc4a0-4e7d-48b8-9a3e-e4e28999f56a&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: President Trump Says He's Open to Letting Dreamers 'Morph' Into Citizens [Watch (HLS stream): President Trump Says He's Open to Letting Dreamers 'Morph' Into Citizens](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/ndoEdan7.m3u8) (0:38)  _Published 2018-01-25. President Donald Trump said Wednesday he’s open to an immigration plan that would provide a pathway to citizenship for hundreds of thousands of young people who were brought to the country as children and are now here illegally._ by [Melissa Locker](https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/) ## Melissa Locker Jan 25, 2018 5:27 PM UTC by [Melissa Locker](https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/) ## Melissa Locker Jan 25, 2018 5:27 PM UTC President [Donald Trump](http://time.com/5118214/trump-morph-power-rangers-memes/?xid=homepage) wants a wall to secure the southern border of the United States, and he’ll propose $25 billion for [building a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border](http://time.com/5117811/donald-trump-dreamers-daca-citizenship/). Luckily, Jimmy Kimmel may have found a solution. As budget negotiations continue in Congress, Trump tweeted at Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer that there would be no deal to [extend DACA](http://time.com/5117811/donald-trump-dreamers-daca-citizenship/), the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, without including funding [for his border wall](http://time.com/5091353/donald-trump-daca-wall/). “Cryin’ Chuck Schumer fully understands, especially after his humiliating defeat, that if there is no Wall, there is no DACA. We must have safety and security, together with a strong Military, for our great people!” Trump [tweeted](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/956015565776277510). > [](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/956015565776277510) “So in other words, if Congress doesn’t pay for the wall, people who came to this country as children 30 years ago will be separated from their families and deported,” Kimmel said on Wednesday night’s episode of _Jimmy Kimmel Live!_ “Oh, you want [support for DACA](http://time.com/4941733/trump-daca-deal-enshrine/)? Okay, then give me $18 billion for the world’s dumbest wall,” said Kimmel. The late-night host then suggested a less expensive option: “Honestly, it would be cheaper for everyone if we just paid Trump off,” he joked. “Instead of $18 billion for a wall, how about we give you $5 billion to shut up and go back to Florida?” He then proposed an alternative solution: a shopping mall, on the wall. Watch the full clip below. ## Transcript [00:00] Do you think you are gonna get a deal on immigration, Mr. [00:01] President? I think so, yeah, but I just wrote something out [00:04] what we're looking. We want great border security, we [00:08] want to do a great job with DACA, I think it's our issue. I [00:11] think it's a better issue for the Republicans, than for the [00:13] Democrats. Do you want citizenship for Dreamers? We're [00:18] going to morph into it. It's gonna happen at some point in [00:20] the future. What does that mean, morph into it? Over a [00:23] period of 10 to 12 years. Somebody does a great job, they [00:26] have worked hard. It gives incentive to do a great job. I [00:29] think it's a nice thing to have the incentive of, after a period [00:33] of years, being able to become a citizen. How many years, [00:35] Mr. President? 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