TRUMP BUILDS THE WALL. Lately, there have been news stories expressing alarm about the rapid progress the Trump administration is making in building a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. Whatever the stories are nominally about — environmental objections, questions about contracting, local concerns — their true headline is this: President Donald Trump is finally building the border wall he has promised for more than a decade.Construction that was slow during Trump’s first term, and abandoned during Joe Biden’s time in office, is now accelerating in Trump’s second term. The key was the passage of last year’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which included $46.5 billion for the construction of what is now called a “smart wall” — that is, a wall that includes not only the basic structure but detection technology, cameras, lighting, and roads. According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection, 221 miles of what is called primary smart wall are currently under construction. Contracts have been awarded, and design is underway for an additional 370 miles. Another 44 miles of replacement wall are under construction, plus 183 miles of secondary wall to provide backup security in high-traffic areas where there is already a primary wall.