‘Fox & Friends’ Host Brian Kilmeade: Trump ‘Never Should Have Said’ Mexico Would Pay for Wall

Fox & Friends host Brian Kilmeade admitted on Thursday morning that President Donald Trump “never should have said” Mexico would pay for his border wall, a promise he made constantly during his 2016 campaign. 

During a segment about backlash to the Trump administration using Pentagon money to fund the project, Kilmeade first attempted to highlight the hypocrisy of “the people that could not care less, as President Obama’s administration starved the military year after year and watched it rot away.” 

But then he pivoted to the “sensationalist headlines” over the move, including one from The Daily Beast that read, “Trump Raids Elementary Schools to Pay for Wall; Mexico Off Hook.”

“He’s right,” Kilmeade said in response to that headline—though it’s unclear who he meant by “he” in that sentence. “The president never should have said Mexico was going to pay for the wall, though he says they’re going to get it in fees at border crossings.”

In an attempt at damage control, Kilmeade’s co-host Steve Doocy said, “I think he did think initially that he would find a way for Mexico to pay for it but as we know, that did not work.” 

Just last week, in a radio interview with Kilmeade, President Trump praised the host’s loyalty—compared to some others at the network. “You’re a solid, I used to say, you’re a solid six or maybe seven,” Trump said. “But you’re getting much better. You’re getting great.”