Acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney said Sunday that he has “no idea” which former presidents President Trump is claiming told him they wished they had built a border wall while in office.
“I have no idea. I haven’t asked the president that question,” Mulvaney told CNN’s “State of the Union.”
Trump made the claim on Friday, and spokesmen for former Presidents Clinton and George W. Bush have denied they discussed the issue with Trump. Former Presidents Obama and Carter have never endorsed a border wall.{mosads}
“I don’t know what the presidents mean when they say they weren’t supporting a wall,” Mulvaney added. “George Bush was president in 2006 when they signed a Secure Fence Act, which is what we’re using to build the wall.”
Parts of the federal government are currently shut down due to deadlock over Trump’s request for $5.7 billion to fund border security, including a border barrier, and Democrats’ refusal to fund a so-called border wall.
“This should have been done by all of the presidents that preceded me,” Trump said Friday during remarks in the Rose Garden. “And they all know it. Some of them have told me that we should have done it.”