Eminent domain is a powerful force, sure thing. But so are the courts. And since funding for the taking of land and the construction of the wall will always be contingent on the whims of each congress…no, this thing will never, ever get built.
The federal government has started surveying land along the border in Texas and announced plans to start construction next month. Rather than surrender their land, some property owners are digging in, vowing to reject buyout offers and preparing to fight the administration in court.
“You could give me a trillion dollars and I wouldn’t take it,” said Cavazos, whose land sits along the Rio Grande, the river separating the U.S. and Mexico in Texas. “It’s not about money.”
If Trump really were the masterful negotiation of his own self-control yes mythology, he’d use this to his advantage: offer the Democrats a whole bunch of things they can’t say no to in exchange for two years worth of wall funding, declare victory, and leave the disappointment for someone else’s watch. Hell, if he were even the moderately competent dealmaker he used to be, he’d do that. He isn’t. He can’t. He won’t.
