Trump visits Texas to tour U.S. border, says wall 'really worked,' completion 'makes sense'

Former President Trump travelled Wednesday to Texas to tour the southwest U.S. border where he made a case for the completion of the security wall between the U.S. and Mexico.

"When I used to go around and give speeches, I'd said the two things that will never get old are a wheel and a wall," Trump said at a press briefing with Texas Gov. Gregg Abbott, who wants to complete construction of the wall. "And that's true. I mean, when you get right down to it, the wall worked, really worked."

Trump said about the new Biden administration purportedly wanting to restart construction amid a record surge of illegal immigration: "It's only common sense."

The former president also commented on the New York City mayoral election results, in which the city's board of elections on Tuesday threw the Democrat primary into chaos but accidentally counting 135,000 test ballots. 

"Our elections are a disaster," said Trump, who has attributed his reelection loss in large part to voting irregularities in several states.

"Our elections are a disaster," Trump said.

Roughly 180,034 people were apprehended last month at the border, and 40% of those turned back had previously crossed. That’s compared to fewer than 25,000 in late 2020, according to data from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection. The highest number of monthly apprehensions during the Trump administration was nearly 150,000, according to the Texas Tribune.

The May apprehension numbers are the highest in 20 years.

Trump and Abbott held the border security briefing with state and law enforcement officials at the Weslaco Department of Public Safety headquarters, then toured the border, in the Rio Grande Valley.

Trump arrived about one week after Vice President Kamala Harris, whom President Biden appointed the administration’s border czar, visited the border in El Paso.