Fact Check: Donald Trump Built Border Wall Twice Length of Grand Canyon?

Donald Trump has made changes to immigration and border security a central part of his presidential campaign. The former president has pledged that if elected to the White House again he would begin “the largest deportation operation in American history.”

In an attempt this week to shore up his record on immigration, Trump said at a Fox News town hall that during his presidency he built a border wall equivalent to double the length of the Grand Canyon.

The Claim

During a Fox News interview with Laura Ingraham, broadcast during Tuesday’s town hall, Trump said he built 571 miles of wall on the southern border during his time in office.

Trump said: “I had people opposed to me very strongly, including Mitch McConnell and Paul Ryan and Nancy Pelosi, that was a little triumvirate. And what I did after a year, I said, ‘You know what, these people….’ I took the money out, we built 571 miles of border wall, and that’s what made our border so good.”

The Facts

If Trump’s claim is accurate, the wall is twice the length of the Grand Canyon, according to figures from the National Park Service.

As it is, Trump’s claim is off by 113 miles, and there are caveats too.

A 2023 report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAS) said about 458 miles of wall were built between January 2017 and January 2021, 81 percent of which replaced existing barriers.

A U.S. Customs and Border Protection report in 2021 broke this down into two categories: primary and secondary wall. It said that 52 miles of primary wall and 33 miles of secondary wall were built in locations where no barriers previously existed.

A further 351 miles of replacement primary wall and 22 miles of secondary wall were put in place of “dilapidated and/or outdated designs,” bringing the total build to 458 miles.

The GAO said in its 2023 assessment that primary barriers are the first fences encountered heading north, while secondary barriers, behind primary obstructions, consist “solely of pedestrian barriers.”

So even if we account for secondary barriers and replacement structures that were built, Trump cannot claim that he built 571 miles.

Newsweek has contacted media representatives for Trump via email for comment.

Trump also used his interview with Ingraham to falsely claim that President Joe Biden was not competent enough to stand trial, a misleading interpretation of special counsel Robert Hur’s recent report on Biden’s handling of classified documents.

While Hur said Biden could not remember significant dates when interviewed, such as when his son died, he did not assess Biden’s ability to stand trial, and there is no evidence that questions that ability.

The Ruling

False

Around 458 miles of border barriers were built during Trump’s presidency, 81 percent of which replaced existing barriers.

A 2021 government report said 52 miles of primary wall and 33 miles of secondary wall were built in locations where no barriers previously existed.

FACT CHECK BY Newsweek’s Fact Check team

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