U.S. can have our wall, bases and detention cells, Abbott tells Trump

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WASHINGTON — Gov. Greg Abbott met with President Donald Trump at the White House on Wednesday where they discussed border security and Abbott made an appeal for the federal government to reimburse the state for its multi-billion dollar border hardening investments.

"We're just continuing to find ways we can assist the Trump administration and finally securing our border," Abbott told reporters at the White House after their meeting.

Abbott said he outlined what resources Texas has invested in border security and that these resources were available to the federal government. He listed the 56 miles of completed border wall and said 18 more miles will be built soon. He mentioned that more than 100 miles of land are in the process of being acquired in order to build more border walls. Abbott also said that he told Trump the state has built two military bases that can house 2,400 soldiers and identified more than 4,000 jail cells that could be used for migrant detention.

"All of that is available for the United States of America," Abbott said.

Abbott has emerged as one of the president’s biggest allies in hardening the southern border. He used state resources to militarize the border and curb illegal crossings under Operation Lone Star and has since requested the federal government compensate Texas for the program. Texas covers more of the southern border than any other state and spent over $11 billion on Operation Lone Star.

“The burden that our State has borne is a direct result of a refusal by the federal government to do its job,” Abbott wrote in a letter to Congressional leadership last month. “The work that Texas has done through Operation Lone Star has protected and will continue to benefit the entire country.”

Abbott said he brought up reimbursement during his meeting with Trump, and that the president was receptive. Abbott plans to return to Washington next week to make a similar appeal to Congress, which constitutionally controls federal funding. Abbott has already met with House Speaker Mike Johnson and several members of Texas' Republican Congressional delegation, who Abbott said were "enthusiastically working" toward funding the state's border security efforts.

Trump "understands, in part, this is, in a way, a real estate transaction," Abbott said, "because Texas could transfer to the United States of America a value of well over five or six billion dollars of real assets on the ground that Texas put in place that will continue to secure the United States for decades to come."

Abbott was also at the White House for an executive order signing intended to ban trans athletes from girls sports. Several other Texans were also in attendance including U.S. Reps. Monica De La Cruz of McAllen, Ronny Jackson of Amarillo, Wesley Hunt of Houston and Beth Van Duyne of Irving. Trump gave Abbott a special shout out during the signing ceremony, calling Abbott "a great friend of mine," and continuing, "he’s really helped us at the border, he’s done a great job.”

Trump also gave Abbott a special shout out for Texas’ border efforts during his inauguration. Trump spoke at length from the lectern directly to Abbott, who was in the audience for an informal Inauguration Day address. Trump said Abbott was “a very popular governor and now he's an unbeatable governor” because of his border policies and called Abbott a “leader of the pack.”

In his speech, Trump vowed to help Abbott build more walls on the border and send the military to help with border enforcement. He has since declared an emergency on the border and vowed to deploy military resources for border enforcement. Abbott also recently gave the Texas National Guard arrest authority at the border.

Abbott praised the Mexican government's announcement that it will send 10,000 troops to the border as part of a deal to delay punishing 25% tariffs on its exports into the United States. Abbott said 10,000 troops exceeded the use of force he's seen in the past and would "have an enormous impact, and we will see an almost immediate elimination of any illegal border crossings."