The Wall

"Fixed fortifications are a monument to the stupidity of man."

-George S. Patton

The Trump Wall (also referred to as "The Wall", among other names¹) was an expansion of the Mexico–United States barrier during the U.S. presidency of Donald Trump. Throughout his 2016 presidential campaign, Trump called for the construction of a border wall. He said that, if elected, he would "build the wall and make Mexico pay for it". Then-Mexican president Enrique Peña Nieto said that Mexico would not pay for the wall.

In January 2017, Trump signed Executive Order 13767, which formally directed the U.S. government to begin wall construction along the U.S.–Mexico border using existing federal funding. After a political struggle for funding, including an appropriations lapse resulting in a government shutdown for 35 days, and the declaration of a national emergency, construction started in 2019.

The U.S. built new barriers along 455 miles, 49 miles of which previously had no barrier. Much of the remainder consists of 30-foot-tall steel fencing where previously there had been smaller fencing to deter automobiles. 

The Atlantic Wall (German: Atlantikwall) was an extensive system of coastal defences and fortifications built by Nazi Germany between 1942 and 1944, along the coast of continental Europe and Scandinavia as a defence against an anticipated Allied invasion of Nazi-occupied Europe from the United Kingdom, during World War II. 

Hitler ordered the construction of the fortifications in 1942. More than a half million French workers were drafted to build it. The wall was frequently mentioned in Nazi propaganda, where its size and strength were usually exaggerated. The fortifications included colossal coastal guns, batteries, mortars, and artillery, and thousands of German troops were stationed in its defences.[a] When the Allies eventually invaded the Normandy beaches in 1944, most of the defences were stormed within hours. Today, ruins of the wall exist in all of the nations where it was built, although many structures have fallen into the ocean or have been demolished over the years.

Besides the fact they are made of steel and concrete, they had many similarities:

1. They both were built to keep out who they who they felt were the enemy:

   • Trump wanted to keep out foreigners (The Scapegoat) who he thought were "animals", from "shitholes" that send us people with "problems, drugs", who are "rapists". 

   • Hitler wanted to keep out the Allies.  

2. They both were ultimately unsuccessful:

• Under Trump's leadership, only 49 miles of new wall were built which did not decrease the number of illegal aliens living in the United States. Cato at Liberty, Jan 20, 2021

• Under Hitler's leadership, the Allies were able to successfully and comparatively easily land forces in Normandy, on June 06, 1944, which directly led to the end of the war on May 08, 1945. 

3. They both were sideshows.

4. They both were built in two years:

   • As Trump did not have sufficient political skill to arrange for funding during the first two years of his administration during which Republicans controlled both houses of Congress, he only had 2019-2020 to build his 49 miles of wall.  

   • Hitler issued the order to build the Atlantic Wall on March 23, 1942, in his famous Directive 40. It was overtopped on June 06, 1944.

5. They were both built by companies with political ties to the Leader and without competitive bidding:

   • Todt Organization was a cooperative effort of the German government and the German construction industry; the former supplied the manpower and the material, the latter supplied the technical know-how in the form of individual contractors.  Successful firms in the organization made attractive profits. It was led by two members of Hitler's inner circle: Fritz Todt and Albert Speer. 

   • Barnard Construction, owned by a Republican supported was awarded the contract to built large portions of the Trump Wall without competitive bidding. This section of the wall costs taxpayers $33 million/mile. - Business Insider, Apr 17, 2020

6. They both said some odd things about their walls:

   • Trump:

     • "We're thinking of something that's unique, we're talking about the southern border, lots of sun, lots of heat. We're thinking about building the wall as a solar wall, so it creates energy and pays for itself. And this way, Mexico will have to pay much less money, and that's good, right?" - Trump, Jun 21, 2017

     • “As horrible as it sounds, when they throw the large sacks of drugs over, and if you have people on the other side of the wall, you don’t see them–they hit you on the head with 60 pounds of the stuff? It's over . . . as crazy as that sounds, you need transparency through that wall.” - Trump, Jul 12, 2017

     • He wanted his wall painted black in order to make it look more imposing and to make it too hot to touch during the summer (Trump did not comment on the increased cost, from $500 million to $3 billion) - USA Today, May 07 2020

   • Hitler:

     • Decreed that one-twelfth of the steel and concrete used in the Atlantic Wall be allocated to the Channel Islands, even though the islands had little strategic value.

     • Wanted it completed in 14 months (May 1943). - Military History, June 04, 2014  

7.  They both used the wall for photo ops - see below.

"For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility."

- Ephesians 2:13

¹ "Whatever you want to call it's ok with me, they can name it whatever, they can name it Peaches" - Trump, Jan 11, 2019