The move comes after Trump failed to secure nearly enough funding from Congress in the recently signed omnibus spending bill. Trump is seeking $25 billion for construction of the wall, and Congress allocated just $1.6 billion for upgrades to the existing fencing. Trump has privately pushed the U.S. military to fund construction of the border wall.
At Tuesday’s briefing, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders sidestepped a question about whether having the military to construct a wall posed constitutional issues.
White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said: "I can’t go into the specifics of that at this point, but I can tell you that the continuation of building the wall is ongoing, and we’re going to continue moving forward in that process".
Over the weekend, Trump seemed to first publicly float the idea that the military could help him fulfill his campaign pledge. The US president claimed building the wall would create many jobs. He said: "Building a great Border Wall, with drugs (poison) and enemy combatants pouring into our Country, is all about National Defense".
