President-elect Donald Trump has called on the Biden administration to immediately stop selling off tons of unused border wall construction materials, a move Trump blasted as a deliberate effort to undermine his incoming administration’s agenda.
Government contractors in Arizona have been hauling away massive amounts of steel bollards and fencing originally purchased during Trump’s first term for the border wall. According to video obtained by The Daily Wire, the materials are being listed on a government surplus auction site with starting bids as low as $5.
EXCLUSIVE: Weeks before Trump takes office, Biden is racing to auction off unused border wall materials.
Video shows trucks hauling wall materials off the border to a government auction site, where a massive amount of wall is waiting to be sold. pic.twitter.com/ogaQMBHw7R
— Daily Wire (@realDailyWire) December 12, 2024
Trump condemned the auctions in a post on his social media platform, Truth Social, late Friday evening.
“Joe Biden keeps talking about a smooth transition and unified government, and yet he races to sell desperately needed border wall for pennies on the dollar,” Trump wrote. “It will cost the U.S. a fortune, and time, to get the exact same wall to replace what has been sold, and the new wall will cost triple the price. It is CRAZY, and must be stopped.”
Tons of Materials Being Cleared
In Arizona, a government-contracted trucking company is reportedly hauling away an estimated half-mile of wall materials each day. According to a Border Patrol agent who spoke with The Daily Wire, officials aim to have the materials cleared and listed for sale by Christmas.
The rapid sell-off has drawn sharp criticism from Republicans, who see the move as an attempt to sabotage Trump’s efforts to reimplement his border wall policy after his inauguration on January 20. Without access to the already-purchased materials, Trump’s administration will need to secure new funding from Congress to acquire replacements—an expensive and time-consuming process.
Outrage from Republican Leaders
The revelation has sparked outrage among GOP leaders, who have accused the Biden administration of wasteful spending and deliberate obstruction.
Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-MO) demanded the auctions be halted in a letter to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, calling the effort “absurd” and accusing the administration of undermining national security.
“I am writing to demand that you immediately cease the auctioning off of border wall materials,” Schmitt said. “Senate Republicans have repeatedly raised the absurdity of selling border wall materials through letters, nomination hearings, and during the National Defense Authorization Act legislative process.”
Schmitt added that the auctions recoup “less than 0.02% of taxpayer money” spent on the materials while sabotaging efforts to secure the border. “These border wall materials will cost tens of thousands of U.S. taxpayer dollars to replace and will be critical to stem the record flow of millions of illegal immigrants who were welcomed across our border during the Biden Administration,” he wrote.
Political Fallout
Trump and Republican leaders have framed the auctions as emblematic of what they view as the Biden administration’s failures on border security. The sell-off of wall materials, they argue, demonstrates a lack of commitment to addressing the ongoing crisis at the southern border.
As Trump prepares to take office in January, the border wall project remains a central component of his immigration agenda. The administration’s plans to complete the wall could face significant hurdles if the auctions continue and readily available materials are depleted.
The controversy over the auctions has further inflamed partisan tensions, with Republicans demanding immediate action to halt the sell-off and preserve materials critical to border security.