Trump lashes out at media after border criticism

President Trump attacked the press for giving his administration “zero credit” for its work on a wall on the southern border in a tweet Monday evening. 

“When we rip down and totally replace a badly broken and dilapidated Barrier on the Southern Border, something which cannot do the job, the Fake News Media gives us zero credit for building a new Wall. We have replaced many miles of old Barrier with powerful new Walls,” he wrote.

When we rip down and totally replace a badly broken and dilapidated Barrier on the Southern Border, something which cannot do the job, the Fake News Media gives us zero credit for building a new Wall. We have replaced many miles of old Barrier with powerful new Walls!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 22, 2019

On Saturday, the Washington Examiner published a story saying the Trump administration has not installed “a single mile of new wall in a previously fenceless part of the U.S.-Mexico border” since Trump took office, though it has reportedly received funding for 205 miles of barrier. 

{mosads}The report came after U.S. Customs and Border Protection confirmed that the fencing that has been completed since Trump took office was “in place of dilapidated designs.”

In April, NBC News also reported that a section of the fencing on the southern border that was supposed to be the first piece of Trump’s border wall was actually part of a project approved during the Obama administration.

Conservative commentators slammed the president for the delay on one of his central promises, with Drudge Report, a site run by conservative Matt Drudge, sharing the Washington Examiner article with the title “NO NEW WALL AT ALL.”

Conservative commentator Ann Coulter also shared the headline on Twitter, writing, “I guess @realDonaldTrump is too chicken to call @DRUDGE a wacky nutjob.” Trump called Coulter a “wacky nut job” in March.  

I guess @realDonaldTrump is too chicken to call @DRUDGE a wacky nutjob. pic.twitter.com/a5WApdv0dq

— Ann Coulter (@AnnCoulter) July 22, 2019

Administration officials told the Washington Examiner that the fencing replacing old barriers had fewer zoning requirements, and they accused Democratic lawmakers of holding up additional funding.