A leaked report says the border wall will cost $21.6 billion — almost twice what Trump says

Donald Trump wants to start building a wall across the US-Mexico border right away, but it’s still not at all clear how much this would cost.

On Friday, Reuters reported the highest estimate yet: a possible $21.6 billion price tag for a “series of fences and walls” that would take more than three years to build, according to a leaked Department of Homeland Security internal report.

To be sure, this is not the final plan, and this plan may not be adopted, but DHS Secretary John Kelly is expected to see the report in the coming days, according to Reuters. Nevertheless, the report shows a substantially higher figure than past price estimates. Trump’s administration has cited a $12 billion cost and House Speaker Paul Ryan and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell have floated a $15 billion upfront cost. This new, more expensive plan is reportedly one of the final steps in the process before DHS pushes to request taxpayer funding from Congress.

Notably, this plan does not take into account some challenging geographical features on the southern US border, like the mountain range Otay Mesa — a problem border patrol has long been aware of.

Among some of his first executive actions as president, Trump signed an order calling on DHS to “identify and, to the extent permitted by law, allocate all Federal funds” to start building the wall. Getting the money from Mexico as he promised, Trump says, is going to come later.

At Trump’s campaign rallies, his call for a Mexico-US border wall evolved into a call-and-response chant. “And who’s going to pay for the wall?” Trump would ask a cheering crowd. “MEXICO,” his supporters would shout back.

But Trump never clarified when Mexico would pay — and the wall’s price tag doesn’t seem to be his concern.

He clarified this point in his first major television interview in the White House with ABC: American taxpayers would foot the bill and Mexico would reimburse the US after trade negotiations.

“I never said they’re gonna pay from the start,” Trump told ABC’s David Muir. “I said Mexico will pay for the wall. … I wanna start the wall immediately. Every supporter I have — I have had so many people calling and tweeting and — and writing letters saying they’re so happy about it. I wanna start the wall. We will be reimbursed for the wall.

It’s worth noting that Mexico’s leadership continues to be adamant that it will not pay for the wall, and President Enrique Peña Nieto has already canceled a scheduled meeting with Trump.