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Letter: Build the Great Wall of Trump

(Gregory Bull | The Associated Press) A man holds on to the border wall along the beach, Tuesday, Jan. 8, 2019, in Tijuana, Mexico. Ready to make his case on prime-time TV, President Donald Trump is stressing humanitarian as well as security concerns at the U.S.-Mexico border as he tries to convince America he must get funding for his long-promised border wall before ending a partial government shutdown that has hundreds of thousands of federal workers facing missed paychecks.

If we must have the Great Wall of Trump, let’s not be chintzy about it. Let’s take the Great Wall of China as a basic model and run with it.

Mexico will not pay for the Great Wall of Trump, but the wall, if done right, should pay for itself in tourism dollars. Some 10.7 million cash-carrying tourists visited the Great Wall of China in 2013.

At about 2,150 miles, the Great Wall of China is the longest wall in the world. The total length of the U.S.-Mexico border is only 1,954 miles, but, if we put our tax dollars to it, surely we can come up with a serpentine design that extends Trump’s Wall to 2,250 miles — a new world record.

The Great Wall of China’s height varies considerably, from 15 feet to 39 feet. At its widest, China’s wall is 32 feet thick. Trump’s Great Wall must trump China’s. A uniform 40 feet in height, depth and thickness should do. For architectural style, I recommend Trump Tacky — aka Robber Baron Baroque.

If the Great Wall of Trump does not set new records for opulence, length, height, depth and width, why bother?

Andrew G. Bjelland, Salt Lake City

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