Donald Trump has built just THREE MILES of entirely new border wall where no barrier existed before, Department of Homeland Security reveals

• President Trump has built just three miles of primary wall on the U.S.-Mexico border where no barrier existed before 
• A new report out of Customs and Border Protection and obtained by The Washington Post revealed the numbers 
• Overall, 194 miles of border wall have been constructed, but all but 16 miles are replacing previous structures 
• Of the 16 miles of new construction, 13 were to create new secondary walls, while three represented new primary border wall 
• In the past, Trump has blasted the media for not crediting his building of replacement wall as keeping his campaign promise 
• During the 2016 campaign, Trump told supporters he'd build a wall between the U.S. and Mexico and make Mexico pay for it  

President Trump has built just three miles of primary wall on the U.S.-Mexico border where no barrier existed before, a new report from Customs and Border Protection said. 

The report, obtained by The Washington Post, found that while 194 miles of wall have been built the vast majority of 'new' wall was replacing old wall. 

Only 16 miles of the 194 represent construction in places a wall didn't exist, and of that tally, 13 miles were new secondary wall, while three were primary. 

+2

President Trump, as a 2016 presidential candidate, promised to build a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border and said Mexico would pay for it. A new Customs and Border Protection report found that only three miles of primary wall has been built in a place where no wall existed before 

+2

A vast majority of wall that's been built since President Trump came into office was replacing older walls or barriers along the U.S.-Mexico border. Overall, 194 miles of wall has been built, but only 16 of those miles represent construction where no wall stood 

Even amid the coronavirus pandemic, the president has brought up wall construction. 

Last week while touring a Ford Motor Co. plant in Michigan Trump boasted about the progress of construction. 

'But the way, on our southern border, it's never been so secure,' he told workers. 'We're up to almost 200 miles of wall .And we have never had - that whole area is - nobody comes through that area.'

'The area where the wall goes up, that's the end of that,' the president added.  

In the past, though, he's conceded that some of his new wall is merely replacing old wall, with better construction. 

'When we rip down and totally replace a badly broken and dilapidated Barrier on the Southern Border, something which cannot do the job, the Fake News Media gives us zero credit for building a new Wall,' Trump tweeted in July 2019. 'We have replaced many miles of old Barrier with powerful new Walls!' 

It's more difficult, of course, to construct new wall where wall hasn't previously stood before. 

A $1.3 billion contract has been awarded to a North Dakota firm to build 42 miles of fencing through southern Arizona. 

The contract raised eyebrows because of the CEO's unique campaign to woo Trump and his allies, but it also cost so much because of the terrain the wall will have to go through. 

One CBP official told The Washington Post that this Arizona section will be 'a challenge' due to its 'remoteness, rugged terrain and logistical challenges,' including a section that is on the Santa Cruz River basin, where monsoon-like storms can create vicious flash flooding. 

As a candidate, Trump told supporters he would build a wall between the United States and Mexico and Mexico would pay for it.