Francis Wilkinson, Columnist

Trump's Wall Is About Rage, Not Immigration

His political formula is to stoke white fear of nonwhites.

January 27, 2017 at 12:15 PM UTC

Francis Wilkinson is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering US politics and policy. Previously, he was executive editor for the Week and a writer for Rolling Stone.

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Photographer: Gustavo Graf/Bloomberg

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Just to be clear on President Donald Trump's agenda, he is currently jeopardizing relations with the U.S.'s third-largest trading partner, a neighbor with whom we share a roughly 2,000-mile border along with a vast array of law-enforcement and foreign-policy priorities, in order to show American voters that he is tough.

To recap: After signing an executive order this week that directed (but did not fund) the construction of a wall across the southern border, Trump reiterated his demand that Mexico pay for the construction. That, in turn, led Mexican President Pena Nieto to cancel a scheduled meeting with Trump.