www.washingtonpost.com/…
The Washington Post is reporting that Donald Trump has repeated and personally tried to have the US Corps of Engineers award contracts to build his southern border wall to a major Republican donor.
In phone calls, White House meetings and conversations aboard Air Force One during the past several months, Trump has aggressively pushed Dickinson, N.D.-based Fisher Industries to Department of Homeland Security leaders and Lt. Gen. Todd Semonite, the commanding general of the Army Corps, according to the administration officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. The push for a specific company has alarmed military commanders and DHS officials.
Tommy Fisher, chief executive of the company, has appeared a number of times on Fox News and other conservative media pushing for construction of the wall. He has been claiming his company could build 200 miles of wall in less than a year.
Army Corps of Engineers officials evaluated Fisher’s proposal and said it didn’t meet the requirements of the project — and that the proposal was cheaper because it wasn’t as high-quality, or as sophisticated, in their view.
North Dakota Senator Kevin Cramer has been pushing for Fisher who was his guest at the State of the Union Address. Fisher and his wife donated $10,000 to Kramer’s 2018 campaign.