Now Trump says he’ll get the Sun to pay for his wall on the Mexican border

US President Donald Trump pitched a new concept to his supporters Wednesday for the wall he intends to erect on the Mexican border: cover it with solar panels - and use the energy to cover construction costs.

“Yes, we will build a wall,” he told a crowd in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. “We have to stop the drugs from flowing in.”

“I will give you an idea that nobody has heard about yet,” he said. “The southern border. Lots of sun, lots of heat. We are thinking about building a wall as a solar wall. So it creates energy. And pays for itself.”

“And this way, Mexico will have to pay much less money. And that’s good. Right?” quipped the president, whose initial pledge to make Mexico pay for the wall has met with stiff resistance from America’s southern neighbour.

“Think of it, the higher it goes, the more valuable it is,” he enthused.

“Pretty good imagination, right? My idea!”