Why Trump can't get over his wall

The wall: still not built, still not holding back time

President Trump.
(Image credit: MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images)

President Trump has always understood the power of symbolism. As a real estate developer, he counted on it to turn his ambitions into reality: Create physical manifestations of what you want people to believe, and eventually they'll believe it. Put your name in 20-foot-high letters on the side of a building, and people will think you're a giant.

Despite his many business failures, Trump never lost faith in that kind of symbolism. When he ran for president, one symbol rose above them all: a big, beautiful wall on our southern border. And who's going to pay for it? Mexico! It isn't too much of an exaggeration to say that wall put Trump in the White House.

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Paul Waldman

Paul Waldman is a senior writer with The American Prospect magazine and a blogger for The Washington Post. His writing has appeared in dozens of newspapers, magazines, and web sites, and he is the author or co-author of four books on media and politics.