Donald Trump twist: Now, a wall in Colorado?

United States President Donald Trump greets well-wishers after arriving on Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, DC, from Pittsburg in Pennsylvania. Pic/AFP

Pittsburg: Donald Trump has made building a barrier to stop migrants on the US-Mexico border a central plank of his presidency, but on Wednesday, he came up with a puzzling new twist to the initiative: a wall in Colorado.

The problem? Colorado lies well within the United States, though its large southern neighbour New Mexico does border Mexico. "You know why we are going to win New Mexico? Because they want safety on their border," Trump said during a speech in Pittsburg.

"And we are building a wall on the border of New Mexico, and we are building a wall in Colorado," he continued. "We are building a beautiful wall, a big one that really works." "And we are building a wall in Texas, and we are not building a wall in Kansas, but they get the benefit of the walls that we just mentioned," he added. Politicians and social media users reacted to Trump's comment with bafflement and mockery.

"Well this is awkward... Colorado doesn't border Mexico," tweeted the state's Governor Jared Polis. Trump later tweeted he had spoken of building a wall in Colorado "kiddingly".

Impeachment probe comes to a halt

Republicans briefly brought the Democrat-led impeachment probe to a halt when around two dozen GOP House members stormed into a closed-door deposition with a Defense Department official. Democrats said the move compromised national security because some of the Republicans took electronic devices into a secure room. The protest by Republican lawmakers on Wednesday captured national attention.

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