PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump on Monday called on the Biden administration to stop selling unused portions of the border wall that were purchased but not installed during his first administration.
Speaking at his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida, Trump threatened legal action and said he had spoken with Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and other Texas officials about a possible restraining order.
“We’re going to spend hundreds of millions of dollars more building the same wall we already have,” Trump said. “It’s almost a criminal act.”
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Congress last year demanded that the Biden administration throw out the unused sections of border wall. The measure, included in the sweeping National Defense Authorization Act, allows the sale or donation of the items to states along the southern border, provided they are used to refurbish existing barriers and not install new ones. Congress also directed the Pentagon to consider storage costs for the border wall material while it sits unused.
“I’m asking today, Joe Biden, to please stop selling the wall,” Trump said.
While Trump described the handover between Biden and his new team as “an amicable transition,” he also took issue with efforts to allow some members of the federal workforce to continue working from home. Trump said if government employees don’t return to the office under him, they will be fired.
Trump was joined at his appearance by SoftBank Group CEO Masayoshi Son, who announced that the Japanese company plans to invest $100 billion in U.S. projects over the next four years.
It was a victory for Trump, who has used the weeks since the election to promote his policies, negotiate with foreign leaders and make deals.
In a post on his Truth Social site last week, Trump had said that anyone making a $1 billion investment in the United States “will receive fully expedited approvals and permits, including, but in no way limited to, all environmental approvals.”
“Get ready to rock!!!” he wrote.
Deals announced with much fanfare have sometimes failed to deliver on the promised investments. But the announcement nevertheless represents a major victory for Trump, who boasts of having done more in his short transition than his predecessor did in all four years.
“There is a whole light shining all over the world,” he said Monday. “There is a light shining all over the world.”
___ Colvin reported from New York. Associated Press writer Zeke Miller in Washington contributed to this report.
