--- title: Donald Trump: Mexico Border Wall Could Start in 'Months' description: President Trump hopes to start construction on a wall on the Mexican border within "months." canonical: https://time.com/4648921/president-trump-hopes-construction-on-border-wall-can-start-in-months/ author: Zeke Miller article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-01-25T17:45:45.000Z article:modified_time: 2023-12-13T12:43:43.000Z article:section: Politics og:title: Trump Hopes Construction on Border Wall Can Start in Months og:description: "We'll be reimbursed at a later date." og:url: https://time.com/4648921/president-trump-hopes-construction-on-border-wall-can-start-in-months/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt29cf9bfc76218e61/6988b72d5f570fc866b23dc7/trump14.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: President Trump Signs Executive Orders In The Oval Office og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Trump Hopes Construction on Border Wall Can Start in Months twitter:description: "We'll be reimbursed at a later date." twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt29cf9bfc76218e61/6988b72d5f570fc866b23dc7/trump14.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 video:duration: 01:06 video:published: 2017-01-25 section: politics topics: border control, immigration, border wall, homeland security, executive action, U.S.-Mexico border genre: news, political address tones: assertive, formal, declarative emotions: determination (medium), pride (low) sentiment: neutral audience: general news audiences, policy observers, voters interested in immigration people: Donald Trump, Secretary of Homeland Security organizations: U.S. Department of Homeland Security content_suitability: politics [00:00-01:06] transcript_source: automatic transcription transcript_reviewed: not applicable ---  # President Trump Hopes Construction on Border Wall Can Start in 'Months' > 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=6fdf569b-7b85-4ddc-9f75-567e9a8e6b1e&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: What to Know About President Trump's Immigration Orders [Watch (HLS stream): What to Know About President Trump's Immigration Orders](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/pGFFV8Yk.m3u8) (1:06)  _Published 2017-01-25. President Donald Trump green-lighted construction of a wall along the U.S. border with Mexico he repeatedly called for while campaigning via an executive action._ Description, summary, key points, chapters, key quotes, questions and transcript, where present, were produced automatically from the video or its captions and were not reviewed. ## Summary The video presents remarks about U.S. border control and immigration policy. A speaker says the United States is regaining control of its borders and states that construction of a border wall will begin immediately. A second speaker, identified as the Secretary of Homeland Security, is shown referring to himself and his staff in relation to the work. The clip is brief and contains only these statements. ## Key points - The speaker says that beginning today, the United States gets back control of its borders. (00:00) - The speaker says the United States gets back its borders. (00:00) - The speaker states that immediate construction of a border wall will begin. (00:22) - A speaker identifies himself as the Secretary of Homeland Security. (00:17) - The Secretary of Homeland Security says he is working with himself and his staff. (00:17) ## Chapters - [00:00 to 00:17] Border control announcement. A speaker says the United States is regaining control of its borders beginning today. - [00:17 to 01:06] Border wall construction plans. A Homeland Security official describes his role and announces that border wall construction will begin immediately. ## Key quotes - [00:00] speaker: "Beginning today, the United States of America gets back control of its borders, gets back its borders." - [00:17] Secretary of Homeland Security: "I'm the Secretary of Homeland Security, working with myself and my staff." - [00:22] speaker: "We'll begin immediate construction of a border wall." ## Questions this video answers - What does the speaker say the United States is regaining? [00:00] - What construction project does the speaker announce? [00:22] - When does the speaker say construction will begin? [00:22] - What is the title of the official speaking in the video? [00:17] ## Content suitability - politics [00:00-01:06]: Discusses immigration policy and border wall construction, a politically contested topic. by [Zeke Miller](https://time.com/author/zeke-j-miller/) ## Zeke Miller Updated: Dec 13, 2023 12:43 PM UTCPublished: Jan 25, 2017 5:45 PM UTC President Donald Trump green-lighted construction of a wall along the U.S. border with Mexico he repeatedly called for while campaigning via an executive action. by [Zeke Miller](https://time.com/author/zeke-j-miller/) ## Zeke Miller Updated: Dec 13, 2023 12:43 PM UTCPublished: Jan 25, 2017 5:45 PM UTC President Trump hopes to start [construction on a wall on the Mexican border](http://time.com/4646273/donald-trump-wall-mexico-border-immigration/) within “months,” he told ABC News in an interview set to air Wednesday evening. The interview will come just hours after Trump [rolled out executive actions](http://time.com/4648412/president-trump-moves-quickly-on-promises/) on immigration, tightening border security and reappropriating federal money to begin construction on the border wall. In the ABC interview, Trump added that while he is shifting U.S. taxpayer dollars to begin paying for its construction, Mexico will ultimately repay the sum, in line with his campaign promise. “”We’ll be reimbursed at a later date from whatever transaction we make from Mexico,” Trump said, rejecting protestations from the Mexican government that they will not pay for the wall. “I’m just telling you there will be a payment.” Trump, who is considering executive orders to [undo Obama-era restrictions](http://time.com/4648598/donald-trump-terror-interrogation-executive-order/) on waterboarding and other interrogation procedures that Obama called torture, said he is deferring to his Secretary of Defense, James Mattis, who has advised against bringing them back. Trump told ABC he believes the tactics work, but said Mattis has told them they do not. He left the door open to bringing back the so-called enhanced interrogation techniques at a later date. ## Transcript [00:00] [ MUSIC ] So we [00:04] have to do [00:08] something about illegal immigration cuz [00:15] our country is [00:35] being decimated. 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