Trump to demand extra $3bn for border wall from congress, White House officials reveal

Donald Trump plans on asking congress for $8.6bn (£6.6bn) to build a wall on the US southern border in 2020, a figure that far surpasses previous allocations for the project, according to reports.

The president’s new demand is six times what was allocated earlier this year for the wall, and six per cent more than what he has sought to reallocate with his emergency declaration.

The request is unlikely to gain much traction with Democrats in control of the House of Representatives, however, who successfully thwarted his request for $5.6bn in border funding earlier this year.

But the proposal could potentially set the stage for the president’s re-election bid, even after a damaging start of the year that saw few concessions on the issue and Mr Trump taking blame for the longest government shutdown in American history.

“It gives the president the ability to say he has fulfilled his commitment to gain operational control of the southwest border,” one administration official told Reuters.

Another administration official told the news agency: “We have provided the course of action, the strategy and the request to finish the job. It’s a question of, will congress allow us to finish the job.”

The president’s current attempt to secure funding for the wall through an emergency declaration is being challenged in congress and US courts, with a resolution terminating the declaration currently being considered in the Senate.

The measure appears to have received enough support from Republicans in the Senate to pass, a scenario that would force Mr Trump to sign the first veto of his presidency.

It is unlikely that a veto on the measure would be overruled in congress.

Mr Trump has made building a border wall a central promise of his presidency, having launched his 2016 election campaign with a pledge to secure America’s southern border.

Since becoming president, Mr Trump has pursued so-called “America First” policies, including the building of the wall.

The US has 1,933 miles of border with Mexico, and some 700 miles of wall or fencing have already been constructed through previous allocations from congress, starting during the administration of Bill Clinton. The largest of those allocations occurred during the administration of George W Bush in 2006, with construction extending from then into Barack Obama’s presidency.