"I will build a great, great wall on our southern border. And I will have Mexico pay for that wall"
About this Quote
The subtext is transactional nationalism. Border security is framed not as a collective responsibility but as a deal Trump alone can negotiate, proof of dominance. “I will have Mexico pay” isn’t plausible policy so much as a symbolic flex: the restoration fantasy that America can impose costs on an external other, reclaiming pride without sacrifice. It also shifts the emotional burden. Voters aren’t asked to trade taxes or complexity for results; they’re promised vindication.
Context matters: the quote lands in the mid-2010s after years of wage stagnation, post-9/11 security politics, and partisan exhaustion with technocratic language. Trump’s genius here is rhetorical, not legislative: he turns migration into a single visual object you can imagine, chant, and measure. The wall is the point because it’s a boundary you can cheer for, a physical answer to an abstract fear.
Quote Details
| Topic | Vision & Strategy |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
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Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Trump, Donald. (2026, January 15). I will build a great, great wall on our southern border. And I will have Mexico pay for that wall. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/i-will-build-a-great-great-wall-on-our-southern-173142/
Chicago Style
Trump, Donald. "I will build a great, great wall on our southern border. And I will have Mexico pay for that wall." FixQuotes. January 15, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/i-will-build-a-great-great-wall-on-our-southern-173142/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"I will build a great, great wall on our southern border. And I will have Mexico pay for that wall." FixQuotes, 15 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/i-will-build-a-great-great-wall-on-our-southern-173142/. Accessed 25 Feb. 2026.




