Trump Interior Minister 'wasn't proposing policy' when he discussed seizing Mexican land to build wall

President Donald Trump‘s quest to build a wall between Mexico and the US attracted further controversy this week when his Interior Minister appeared to suggest that it would be built on seized Mexican land.

Ryan Zinke made vague remarks about the technicalities of building the much-hyped wall at an event held by the Public Lands Council, suggesting that it couldn’t be built on the US side as that would effectively gift the Rio Grande to Mexico.

Zinke said: “The border is complicated, as far as building a physical wall.

“The Rio Grande, what side of the river are you going to put the wall? We’re not going to put it on our side and cede the river to Mexico. And we’re probably not going to put it in the middle of the river.”

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While many took this to mean that Zinke was proposing building the wall in Mexico, his spokeswoman Heather Swift has denied this.

She said: “Secretary Zinke was talking about a combo of natural boundaries, fence, wall, towers, surveillance, etc. and regarding the river he was noting challenges that are being looked at. He wasn’t proposing any policy.”