A North Dakota company repeatedly touted by President Trump won a contract to build sections of a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border, the Defense Department announced on Monday.
Fisher Sand and Gravel won the $400 million contract to build a 31-mile wall in Arizona’s Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge, to be completed by the end of 2020.
Company chief executive Tommy Fisher is a GOP donor and has claimed during appearances on Fox News that the company can build the border wall faster than the Army Corps of Engineers.
Trump has pushed since May for the Defense Department to accept Fisher’s bid. The President repeatedly brought up the company in conversations with Department of Homeland Security officials as well as Lt. Gen. Todd Semonite, commanding general of the Army Corps of Engineers.
“I am glad to see more progress being made to secure the southern border, and I am grateful to see a good North Dakota company like Fisher Industries getting some of the work,” said Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), a supporter of the company, in a statement. “I know they will do very well, performing high quality work at a good bargain, all for the security of the people of the United States.”
“Fisher Industries is looking forward to the opportunity to work with the Army Corps of Engineers on this important project,” read a statement from the company given to National Review. “We are excited to show our high quality work…while helping to secure our southern border.”
Trump has promised to build a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border stretching 500 miles by the 2020 election. So far, only 85 miles of barrier have been constructed, and much of that work has been to replace existing walls that were in disrepair.
House Democrats have refused to include funding for the wall in the federal budget. In response, the Trump administration has declared a national emergency to divert funds from the Pentagon to build the barrier.