President Donald Trump said he aims to start construction of the wall along the US border with Mexico within months.
He told ABC News' David Muir in an interview published Wednesday that he wanted construction to begin as soon as possible. When Muir asked whether that meant construction would start within months, Trump said, "I would say in months, yeah.
"Certainly planning is starting immediately," Trump said.
Trump on Wednesday at the Department of Homeland Security signed two executive orders related to immigration and the construction of the wall.
When asked whether American taxpayers would pay for the wall, Trump said that the money would "come out of what's happening with Mexico."
"We're going to be starting those negotiations relatively soon, and we will be, in a form, reimbursed by Mexico," Trump said.
Trump dodged the question when Muir pressed him on whether American taxpayers would initially foot the bill for construction of the wall.
"All it is is we'll be reimbursed at a later date from whatever transaction we make from Mexico," Trump said.
Muir mentioned that Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto has said he would refuse to pay for the wall, but Trump stood firm.
"I think he has to say that. He has to say that," Trump said. "But I'm just telling you there will be a payment. It will be in a form, perhaps a complicated form, and you have to understand what I'm doing is good for the United States. It's also going to be good for Mexico. We want to have a very stable, very solid Mexico."
During a press conference on Wednesday, White House press secretary Sean Spicer said there were funding mechanisms Trump could use to make sure Mexico would pay for the wall.
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