Trump pushing for steel barrier instead of concrete wall at border

[left-of-center2012]

Source: The Hill

President Trump said Sunday that his administration is pushing for a steel barrier rather than a concrete wall along the southern border, calling it a "good solution." Trump said steel would "give us great strength," and suggested that Democrats opposed a concrete barrier.
"They don't like concrete, so we'll give them steel," Trump said, saying the material will look "beautiful" and be "stronger" than concrete.

"We've been in touch with a lot of people and I informed my folks to say that we'll build a steel barrier, steel, that it will be made out of steel, that it will be less obtrusive and stronger," Trump told reporters at the White House upon returning from Camp David.

Trump said earlier in the day that he plans to reach out to the head of United States Steel and other companies to inquire about a design.

Trump's declaration came after he spent the day meeting with advisers at Camp David and following meetings between Vice President Pence and Democratic congressional aides. While Trump suggested the shift in materials might appease Democrats.


Read more: https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/424080-trump-says-hes-pushing-for-steel-barrier-instead-of-concrete-wall-at

[Docreed2003]

1. A shift in design??

Donnie Dipshit has been tweeting pics of a steel fence for weeks and posted that stupid GoT meme featuring a slatted steel fence. There's been no shift...this is exactly what he's been pushing for since before the shutdown!

[forgotmylogin]

14. That's his idea of "compromise".

[rpannier]

21. Maybe a bit

More likely because it will be Russian steel

[exboyfil]

2. Cool scrap metal

Cut an opening and take it to the scrap dealer.

[pangaia]

3. I just love this one...

"We've been in touch with a lot of people and I informed my folks to say that we'll build a steel barrier, steel, that it will be made out of steel, that it will be less obtrusive and stronger,"

Oh, and he says the shift in materials might appease Democrats.

[Talitha]

4. He went on and on about a big concrete wall.

Speaker Pelosi made a firm statement that there will NOT be a wall.

So he thinks "Oh, she just doesn't want concrete - we'll make it steel, then!"

What a damned fool.

[BigmanPigman]

12. Last week she said he "now wants a beaded curtain".

I am still giggling over that when I visualize it. A beaded curtain between Mexico and the US...I would support that if a few lava lamps and light shows were thrown into the deal along with some psychedelic music and assorted goodies.

[akraven]

31. Don't forget

a few black lights and some tapestries! (old hippie chiming in)

[Cold War Spook]

5. Who is giving him the deal on the steel?

China? If I was a Democrat in the House, I would want a lot to okay it, but as far a the actual structure is concerned, all the steel would have to be manufactured in America at manufacturing plants that only used union workers.

[NCjack]

29. I think 0range45 gets his steel for Russia. nt

[IggleDuer]

6. How 'bout this: Must use only American- made steel.

Not much US made steel to go around. With limited steel, not many other construction projects will get done. Steel prices will increase. Is the tariffs silll in effect. Trump screws things up once again.

[Dave Starsky]

17. If they demand American steel, he'll lose interest.

Can't appease the Russian oligarchs and skim into your own pockets that way.

[EleanorR]

39. By 2008 Russian oligarchs owned 9.1% of US steel, likely more now.

Abramovich is a close personal friend trumps, and Evraz owns steel mills in Portland and Pueblo.

[TexasBushwhacker]

42. Yup and yup

https://www.sltrib.com/opinion/letters/2019/01/19/letter-who-will-profit/

"Evraz, Russia's second-largest steel company, owns three American steel companies: one in Pueblo, Colo., one in Portland, Ore., and one in Chicago. Russian Roman Abramovich, who lives in Moscow, owns the controlling shares in these "American" steel companies.

If Evraz gets a contract to supply steel slats for a border wall, a lot of our hard-earned tax dollars will end up in the pockets of Russian oligarch Abramovich and his cronies, including Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Interestingly, Ivanka Trump is friends with Abramovich's wife."

https://crooksandliars.com/2018/12/guess-who-likely-profit-if-trump-gets-his

Evraz has already provided at least 25% of the steel for the motherfucking Keystone XL Pipeline.

[paleotn]

7. He really doesn't get it, does he.

Good god that man is stupid. Not just slow, or addled. Just garden variety, far out on the left tail stupid.

[Arkansas Granny]

13. And he thinks we are the stupid ones You know, stable genius and all that.

[SeattleVet]

8. Must have had some HUGE donors in the steel industry...

And, as he himself just stated this week, steel is a lot more expensive than concrete, so how much MORE of our money is he going to demand for this boondoggle?

He has gone from a 'beautiful, tall, thick concrete wall' to somewhere around 1500 miles of an expensive rusting eyesore that will take a LOT more money and labor to install and transport than the pre-stressed panels he had originally demanded (which could have been prepared close to where they were going to be installed, instead of at a steel mill at the other end of the country).

Follow the money.

[LenaBaby61]

9. "Trump pushing for steel barrier instead of concrete wall at border."

Uh huh, and HOW MUCH MONEY is greedy Fatso and his greedy buddies gonna make out of th steel necessary for this unnecessary border wall?

It's ALL about how much money he/they can make OFF of everything that they see as the BIG PIGGY BANK aka The United States of America.

[OnlinePoker]

10. A 30 foot sheet wall the length of the border without supports - 34.39 million sq yds of steel

That's a lot of iron.

[Zorro]

15. An iron curtain

[EX500rider]

36. Did you account for the part that is already done?

The border is 1,954 miles long and already has 580 miles of barrier in place from previous administrations.
So 1,374 miles without a barrier.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mexico%E2%80%93United_States_barrier

[OnlinePoker]

38. Most of that is just fencing, not an actual wall like the Trumpster wants. n/t

[janx]

40. Yes. There is plenty of steel barrier in existence now. n/t

[Midnightwalk]

11. So numbnuts doesn't know what we need?

He admits he shutdown the government to build a wall, but just changed his mind?

Why would anyone spend billions on what is obviously a poorly thought out plan?

Next thing you know maybe someone might nitice that most unauthorized immigration is by people people over staying visas. Maybe we should build the wall around airports.

You know, airports have radar. Radar is really important. Maybe we should be building a radar

[EarthFirst]

16. Tomorrow it will be a hollow acrylic structure...

...that can be utilized as an aquarium.

[durablend]

37. You mean toilet, right?

Not as if he cares for the fish

[Cryptoad]

18. As long as Mexico is paying,,,,,,

who cares what its made of,,,,,,,

[docgee]

19. What I find funny is he doesn't even understand the enormity of being president.

He is going to call steel companies personally. Like he doesn't have anything better to do. He still thinks he running his shit little business.

[Roy Rolling]

20. No problem

Money is already in the budget for that.

Sign the original bill, Senior Don.

[appleannie1943]

22. Built with Russian steel?

[Talitha]

23. Why is this 'wall' even in discussion among Dems?

There will be no wall.

Do NOT give in.

Do NOT negotiate.

The 'wall' was Trump's invention.

HE promised it.

It's HIS baby.

HIS delusion.

Not ours.

He's a moron.

Why does anyone even listen to him?

[iluvtennis]

24. He doesn't get it that it's not about the substance a wall is made of - it's about a wall not being

needed. The Dems offered his 1.x Billion for increased border security (more jeeps, more cameras, more personnel, etc). Trump refused the 1.X Billion so he can go f himself.

[SKKY]

25. I don't mean to quill any ambition here, but....

... has Mr. I Build Stuff ever heard of rust?

[Blues Heron]

26. He needs to talk to Christo

[Mopar151]

28. Absolutely! n/t

[mickswalkabout41]

27. How about a nice beaded curtain

Or a hedge. I like hedges. I’ve seen some excellent hedges. Hedges are fine fine shrubbery. But what about________ fill in the blank. Maga. Make America gross again.

[Sugar Smack]

30. He (trump) reminds me of this animation from Electric Company-

Classic.

[Cold War Spook]

33. Does Trump remember the tariffs on steel?

The American companies have raised their prices about 25% which means that their steel is almost as expensive as foreign steel. Too much to write. Read Ed Zarenski who teaches construction estimates at Worcester Polytechnic Institute MA. 1,000 miles = 11 years and 10,000 workers. That's a lot of work visas for Mexicans.

[mahina]

45. Thanks, found the link.

https://www.vnews.com/Build-the-wall-It-could-take-at-least-10-years-even-with-10-000-workers-22674353

Estimate: Wall May Take 10 Years

Border Patrol Public Affairs Officer Vincent Pirro looks at border wall prototypes that stand in the San Diego sector of the border wall on April 25. MUST CREDIT: Washington Post photo by Carolyn Van Houten
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By Todd C. Frankel
The Washington Post
Wednesday, January 09, 2019
Print
The current fight — and now 19-day federal government shutdown — over funding for a U.S.-Mexico border wall could look simple when you consider the logistics of actually building the fabled barrier: It would take an estimated 10,000 construction workers more than 10 years to build the kind of 1,000-mile wall that President Donald Trump has said he wants.

Even the more modest $5.7 billion in wall funding that Trump directly requested during a primetime Oval Office address on Tuesday to address what he called “a growing humanitarian and security crisis” would take an army of 10,000 workers more than two years to build and yield only 230 miles of barrier, according to estimates.

And even at 1,000 miles long, the steel-slatted border wall still would be too small to be a boon for U.S. steelmakers.


The full version of Trump’s envisioned border wall — featuring rarely tested heights cast over almost unimaginable distances — would cost at least $25 billion, said Ed Zarenski, who teaches construction estimation at Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Massachusetts. Zarenski spent 30 years figuring out project price tags for Gilbane, one of the nation’s largest construction firms.

“I wouldn’t say it’s impossible. But you’ve got to factor in engineering considerations,” Zarenski said. “And then I would say, is the project realistic? Probably not.”

After almost two years of Trump demanding that Congress fund his desire for an expanded southern border wall, little time has been spent determining how the project might actually come together. A project of this scale has rarely been attempted — not even by the developer-president himself when he was erecting New York skyscrapers.

The border’s landscape is uniquely remote and difficult. The project site is narrow and runs for miles. And there are unknowns, such as the maximum wind load for a fence reaching about three stories high.

[Cold War Spook]

46. Thank you for posting the link.

I am not mentally capable of doing it even with instructions.

[truthisfreedom]

34. Russian steel that will require endless repainting

[Maxheader]

35. May go up quicker?

The pics that i've seen of the steel, shows it going into concert that has been poured into a trench...

[BlueIdaho]

41. Hope the bullshitter has 20 years...

Cuz that’s what it’s gonna take for US steel producers to make that much steel... if they stop all their other steel contracts that is...

[Retrograde]

43. And so soon after sanctions were lifted

on a major Russian steel supplier - what a coincidence! Bigly, like.

[mahina]

44. Shovels. Drones. Boats. Planes.

[jmowreader]

47. I see. Now we won't have to worry about all those 40-foot ladders...

I don't know what the Mexican Spanish word for "plasma cutter" is, but every welding supply store in Ciudad de Juarez will sell them with Trump's picture on the control panel.