Trump calls on Biden to stop selling unused portions of the border wall

PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump on Monday called on the Biden administration to stop selling off unused portions of border wall that were purchased but not installed during his first administration.

Speaking at his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida, Trump threatened legal action, saying he has spoken to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and other Texas officials about a potential restraining order.

“We’re going to spend hundreds of millions of dollars more on building the same wall we already have,” Trump said. “It’s almost a criminal act.”

Congress last year required the Biden administration to dispose of the unused border wall pieces. The measure, included in the massive National Defense Authorization Act, allows for the sale or donation of the items to states on the southern border, providing they are used to refurbish existing barriers, not install new ones. Congress also directed the Pentagon to account for storage costs for the border wall material while it has gone unused.

“I’m asking today, Joe Biden, to please stop selling the wall,” Trump said.

While Trump described the handover between Biden and his incoming team as “a friendly transition,” he also took issue with efforts to allow some members of the federal workforce to continue working from home. Trump said that if government workers don’t come back into the office under him, they will be dismissed.

Trump was joined at the appearance by SoftBank Group CEO Masayoshi Son, who announced that the Japanese company is planning to invest $100 billion in U.S. projects over the next four years.

It was a win for Trump, who has used the weeks since the election to promote his policies, negotiate with foreign leaders and try to strike deals.

In a post on his Truth Social site last week, Trump had said that anyone making a $1 billion investment in the United States “will receive fully expedited approvals and permits, including, but in no way limited to, all Environmental approvals.”

“GET READY TO ROCK!!!” he wrote.

Deals announced with much fanfare have sometimes failed to deliver on promised investments. But the announcement nonetheless represents a major win for Trump, who has boasted that he has done more in his short transition period than his predecessor did in all four years.

“There’s a whole light over the entire world,” he said Monday. “There’s a light shining over the world.”

___ Colvin reported from New York. Associated Press writer Zeke Miller in Washington contributed to this report.

Colleen Long And Jill Colvin, The Associated Press