Noem Announces Trump's Plan To Paint Border Wall Black
At a Tuesday press conference in Santa Teresa, New Mexico, she praised the wall, saying "It's tall, which makes it very, very difficult to climb, almost impossible. It also goes deep into the ground, which would make it very difficult, if not impossible, to dig under. And today we are also going to be painting it black."
Unsurprisingly, Kristi credited Donald Trump for the bright idea. "That is specifically at the request of the president, who understands that in the hot temperatures down here, when something is painted black, it gets even warmer, and it will make it even harder for people to climb."
According to USA Today, she was asked if critics might find that cruel. Her response? "Don't touch it."
For a few moments, she even painted the wall with a roller.
Look how hard she works, everyone! Definitely worth her salary of $235,100 per year!
Notably, she failed to mention the cost of this project, though CNN reported that the "Big, Beautiful Bill" dedicated about $46.5 billion to modernizing the border. The outlet also noted that this isn't the first time Trump has shown interest in painting the wall black. During his first term, he brought it up numerous times and ordered sections test-painted, with officials reportedly saying it was "largely being done to placate the president." In 2020, the cost was estimated at $1.2 million per mile — who knows what it would cost now with prices these days.
Naturally, people have a lot to say about all this:
One person wrote, "They know there is no sun at night, right?"
Another said, "Tracks with this administration. Everything is just paint metaphorically. Hair, makeup, policy, troop deployment domestically, history, education, religion. All they do is attempt to paint over the awful people that they are."
"Trump wants to paint 1300 miles of border wall black.. so it will be too hot to touch. Estimated to cost $2.7 billion. The estimated cost of gloves for illegals: $5.00 a pair. History will record this time as the Dumbest of All Ages.."
"The crazy thing is that despite this costing literally billions of dollars; they have the money for it! That's right, Congress decided to cut funding for benefits for Americans and instead give CBP billions for the border wall, which they'll now use to paint the thing black."
"The clown car of idiots never fails to impress with the level of stupid they show every single day."
"Noem forgot to say Trump will make Mexico pay for the paint."
"Fun Fact: Painting the entire 1,300-mile U.S.-Mexico border wall black could cost $2.72 BILLION. We are governed by the dumbest people in America."
"This is sure to make grocery prices go down. Release the Trump Epstein files."
And finally, "They really are just taking tips from Wile E. Coyote."
What do you think about all this? LMK in the comments below!
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Chicago Tribune
26 minutes ago
- Chicago Tribune
California Gov. Newsom signs legislation calling for special election on redrawn congressional map
SACRAMENTO, Calif — California voters will decide in November whether to approve a redrawn congressional map designed to help Democrats win five more U.S. House seats next year, after Texas Republicans advanced their own redrawn map to pad their House majority by the same number of seats at President Donald Trump's urging. California lawmakers voted mostly along party lines Thursday to approve legislation calling for the special election. Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom, who has led the campaign in favor of the map, then quickly signed it — the latest step in a tit-for-tat gerrymandering battle. 'We don't want this fight and we didn't choose this fight, but with our democracy on the line, we will not run away from this fight,' Democratic Assemblyman Marc Berman said. Republicans, who have filed a lawsuit and called for a federal investigation into the plan, promised to keep fighting it. California Assemblyman James Gallagher, the Republican minority leader, said Trump was 'wrong' to push for new Republican seats elsewhere, contending the president was just responding to Democratic gerrymandering in other states. But he warned that Newsom's approach, which the governor has dubbed 'fight fire with fire,' was dangerous. 'You move forward fighting fire with fire and what happens?' Gallagher asked. 'You burn it all down.' In Texas, the Republican-controlled state Senate was scheduled to vote on a map Thursday night. After that, Republican Gov. Greg Abbott's signature will be all that is needed to make the map official. It's part of Trump's effort to stave off an expected loss of the GOP's majority in the U.S. House in the 2026 midterm elections. What states are doing in the battle over congressional maps as Texas pursues plan President Donald Trump soughtOn a national level, the partisan makeup of existing districts puts Democrats within three seats of a majority. The incumbent president's party usually loses congressional seats in the midterms. The president has pushed other Republican-controlled states including Indiana and Missouri to also revise their maps to add more winnable GOP seats. Ohio Republicans were also already scheduled to revise their maps to make them more partisan. The U.S. Supreme Court has said the Constitution does not outlaw partisan gerrymandering, only using race to redraw district lines. Texas Republicans embraced that when their House of Representatives passed its revision Wednesday. 'The underlying goal of this plan is straight forward: improve Republican political performance,' state Rep. Todd Hunter, the Republican who wrote the bill revising Texas' maps, said. On Thursday, California Democrats noted Hunter's comments and said they had to take extreme steps to counter the Republican move. 'What do we do, just sit back and do nothing? Or do we fight back?' Democratic state Sen. Lena Gonzalez said. 'This is how we fight back and protect our democracy.' Republicans and some Democrats championed the 2008 ballot measure that established California's nonpartisan redistricting commission, along with the 2010 one that extended its role to drawing congressional maps. Democrats have sought a national commission that would draw lines for all states but have been unable to pass legislation creating that system. Trump's midterm redistricting ploy has shifted Democrats. That was clear in California, where Newsom was one of the members of his party who backed the initial redistricting commission ballot measures, and where Assemblyman Joshua Lowenthal, whose father, Rep. Alan Lowenthal, was another Democratic champion of a nonpartisan commission, presided over the state Assembly's passage of the redistricting package. Newsom on Thursday contended his state was still setting a model. 'We'll be the first state in U.S. history, in the most democratic way, to submit to the people of our state the ability to determine their own maps,' Newsom said before signing the legislation. Former President Barack Obama, who's also backed a nationwide nonpartisan approach, has also backed Newsom's bid to redraw the California map, saying it was a necessary step to stave off the GOP's Texas move. 'I think that approach is a smart, measured approach,' Obama said Tuesday during a fundraiser for the Democratic Party's main redistricting arm, noting that California voters will still have the final say on the map. Bipartisan group led by ex-Obama officials 'rolling the dice' on new remapping plan for Illinois legislatureThe California map would last only through 2030, after which the state's commission would draw up a new map for the normal, once-a-decade redistricting to adjust district lines after the decennial U.S. Census. Democrats are also mulling reopening Maryland's and New York's maps for mid-decade redraws. However, more Democratic-run states have commission systems like California's or other redistricting limits than Republican ones do, leaving the GOP with a freer hand to swiftly redraw maps. New York, for example, can't draw new maps until 2028, and even then, only with voter approval. In Texas, outnumbered Democrats turned to unusual steps to try to delay passage, leaving the state to delay a vote by 15 days. Upon their return, they were assigned round-the-clock police monitoring. California Republicans didn't take such dramatic steps but complained bitterly about Democrats muscling the package through the Statehouse and harming what GOP State Sen. Tony Strickland called the state's 'gold-standard' nonpartisan approach. 'What you're striving for is predetermined elections,' Strickland said. 'You're taking the voice away from Californians.'
Axios
26 minutes ago
- Axios
Newsom signs California redistricting measures in response to Texas bill
California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed two redistricting bills into law on Thursday evening after a Democratic-controlled Legislature passed them earlier in the day. Why it matters: The legislation is in direct response to Texas' Republican-controlled House passing a new congressional map at the urging of President Trump, and the consequences of both could prove pivotal in the 2026 midterms and the 2028 presidential election.
Axios
26 minutes ago
- Axios
Argentina snafu with Noem leads Rubio, White House to seek better coordination on foreign policy
When Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem signed a visa-waiver accord with Argentinian officials last month, Marco Rubio — the National Security Director and Secretary of State — didn't get a heads-up until after the fact, according to five sources familiar with the situation. Now the White House and National Security Council want to make there's no repeat of such a scenario. Why it matters: All U.S. government workers must "clear the purpose and scope of any proposed call, conversation, meeting or trip with the NSC prior to engagement," according to an Aug. 8 memo penned by Rubio and White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles that was reviewed by Axios. "Any proposed agreements, directives or demands involving foreign leaders or countries must be notified, coordinated and approved through the interagency process at the White House, via the NSC," the memo said. "No commitments or statements binding the United States may be made without prior NSC approval." The big picture: Foreign policy under President Trump is conducted in a top-down fashion at breakneck speed in multiple high-stakes situations across the globe. That sometimes has led to occasions in which different departments and Cabinet secretaries aren't completely on the same page. The Argentina case wasn't the only such instance but it was the biggest one yet, the sources said. "This memo was not directed at any specific individual," White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a written statement. "It was sent to the president's entire top-tier team to emphasize the importance of a coordinated and deliberate approach to advancing the President's foreign policy agenda." The backstory: Noem traveled to Latin America last month and signed a July 28 " statement of intent" with Argentinian counterparts to readmit the country to the U.S. Visa Waiver Program to eventually enable citizens of that country to travel to the U.S. for 90 days without a waiver. Rubio, however, wasn't informed in advance and was "blindsided" and "annoyed" by the announcement, two sources who spoke with him said. "The policy itself isn't a problem, it was just a breach of protocol," one of the sources said. "Marco likes Kristi and he talks to her all the time. It's just that this is not a good way to conduct foreign policy if the lines of communication are like this." One source said the NSC was made aware of Noem's plans in Argentina, however, and speculated that it didn't reach Rubio's desk in Trump's streamlined NSC that has scrapped a slower, deliberative processes that would have avoided this situation. Sources in other departments say they weren't aware of any briefing on the visa waiver plan and that it didn't reach Rubio. The intrigue: Axios was first made aware of the situation in reporting an Aug. 14 story about the unusual work status of Noem's de facto chief of staff, Corey Lewandowski. Lewandowski, a former Trump campaign aide, is classified as a temporary employee. The White House is tracking his work hours at DHS amid suspicions he's worked more days than allowed. Last month's memo didn't single out Lewandowski but was partly prompted by his activities. House Democrats, also are investigating his work arrangement. "Corey went with Noem to Argentina and someone should've flagged this visa situation to Rubio," one official said. "It's not big deal. But it's one of those deals that could have been a problem." Earlier in the administration, Rubio and Trump's special envoy to Venezuela, Ric Grenell, appeared to be at loggerheads on occasion.
