Why is he so fixated on the 5 billion dollar figure?

[Palisade]

The entire wall will cost hundreds of billions, if not trillions of dollars. Why is he so fixated on 5 billion dollars? He even lists 5 billion dollars in the position paper he sent out to the media during his campaign ("one time payment of 5 billion dollars" ). I guess the real question is, who does he owe 5 billion dollars? Because I guarantee the money will be laundered through some shady construction company that he has ties to.

[Claritie Pixie]

1. Good deduction. And the wall will never be built.

[dalton99a]

2. He's got 5 kids

Easy number to remember

[flyingfysh]

3. Maybe he thinks he can grab some of that money

There would probably be contractors happy to pay kickbacks

[PSPS]

4. His balloon payment to the russian mob is due

[2naSalit]

5. Been wondering that for weeks now...

it's like that proverbial "boat payment" thing.

He owes somebody $5Bil is what it looks/sounds like.

[RockRaven]

6. According to Scott Dworkin's twitter (not the best source, but he repeats rumors well I guess)

he's heard from multiple GOPers who say they think if the Dems agreed to give Trump that money tomorrow he'd still turn it down because by now he's fixated on fighting, and the fight is what he really wants, not any particular dollar value, and not any particular structure.

Don't know if it is true, but it is plausible, and if true it underlies how traitorously irresponsible McConnell and Senate GOPers are in failing to behave like a co-equal branch of government.

[Cracklin Charlie]

13. I read someone's twitter analysis...

That said in his mind the wall represents the one he wants to build between himself and investigators.

I thought it was a good take.

[LuckyCharms]

7. 5.6 billion. The 5 is for the fingers on one hand and the .6 is for

his dick which is .6 or 60% of a regular, average dick.

[shanny]

8. What's really pathetic is that he turned down 25 BILLION

last spring when the Ds were willing to bargain on DACA. No deal is good enough unless the other party loses....

[Hassler]

9. We'll eventually learn it comes from a movie scene from 1967.

[trueblue2007]

10. I think Donald rump is fixated on "his legacy" ......

[hexola]

11. There's this

Russia Signs $6 Billion Investment Deals With Venezuela, Maduro Says

https://themoscowtimes.com/news/russia-signs-6-billion-investment-deals-with-venezuela-maduro-says-63743

Russia has signed billions of dollars worth of investment deals in Venezuela, the South American country's President Nicolas Maduro announced on Thursday after a three-day visit to Moscow.

The Venezuelan leader was in the Russian capital in an attempt to garner support for his country’s ailing economy. During a bilateral meeting on Wednesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin voiced his support for Maduro’s “efforts to achieve mutual understanding in [Venezuela’s] society as well as settle relations with the opposition.”

It's almost like Trump wants to block American access to this...

Mexican president proposes ‘free zone’ to attract investment, reduce migration to US

https://www.foxnews.com/world/mexican-president-proposes-free-zone-to-attract-investment-reduce-migration-to-us

“It’s going to be the biggest free zone in the world,” Lopez Obrador said. “It is very important to project for winning investment, creating jobs and taking advantage of the economic strength of the United States.”

Lopez Obrador, a self-styled left-wing populist, took office Dec. 1 with the promise to help the country's poor, noting that the nation's minimum wage had lost 70 percent of its purchasing power in recent decades after devaluations and economic crises.

[BootinUp]

12. I don't know. How much more I can take. Nt

[brush]

14. You have to remember the whole "wall" thing was a memorization device...

dreamed up by his campaign advisors to get trump to remember to talk against immigrants. They knew/know trump is not operating with the brain of a "stable genius" shall we say, so they had to come up with something that he could remember.

It's kind of the same thing with the 5B figure, it's stuck in his brain and easy to remember. Everybody knows, and probably him too, that 5B won't even cover material costs.

[fierywoman]

15. Does it have to do with the percentage of his kickback?