President Trump is pushing for the border wall to be painted black, which could up the price of the project by $500 million, according to contracts obtained by The Washington Post.
Military and border officials have tried to dissuade the president from the design preference because of the initial cost as well as upkeep, according to the Post. Trump has reportedly insisted that the design would deter unauthorized immigrants from climbing it.
Though they left it out of the original U.S. Customs and Border Protection design specifications, Trump reportedly told White House officials to go forward with the paint job.
The president has reportedly promoted the idea of the border wall amid the pandemic to his staff. Trump has publicly touted the structure, as well as increased immigration enforcement in general, as a way to prevent the virus from further spreading to the U.S.
The move comes as the November election approaches. The border wall was one of Trump’s central pillars in his 2016 campaign.
The wall is slated to be one of the most costly infrastructure projects in modern American history, with $15 billion secured for the project so far. Over 60 percent of those funds have been diverted from Defense Department construction funds and counternarcotics programs.