Fox News guest: Trump claiming Mexico is paying for wall ‘makes zero sense’

Fox News guest Dagen McDowell ripped President Trump on Wednesday, saying his claim that Mexico would pay for a border wall through a new trade deal with the U.S. “makes zero sense” as a political message.

“I want to know why in the name of Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy are you talking about Mexico is paying for it?” McDowell said on Fox News’s “Outnumbered” on Wednesday. “Well then why did you shut the government down? In terms of the political messaging, this makes zero sense to me.”

McDowell serves as a host on the Fox Business network.

Trump took to Twitter on Wednesday morning to claim that Mexico would be paying for the border wall through the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), which was signed in November but has yet to be ratified by Congress.

Mexico is paying for the Wall through the new USMCA Trade Deal. Much of the Wall has already been fully renovated or built. We have done a lot of work. $5.6 Billion Dollars that House has approved is very little in comparison to the benefits of National Security. Quick payback!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 2, 2019

{mosads}Congress has yet to take up the deal, and with a Democratic majority in the House starting on Thursday, it is unclear if the bill will pass as it is currently constructed.

Trump has said in the past that Mexico is paying for the wall through savings the U.S. will make in the new trade deal.

The government is currently in its second week of a partial shutdown as Republicans and Democrats are at an impasse over funding for a border wall.

Trump has demanded more than $5 billion in funding for the wall and has turned down any offer from Democrats that does not include the money.

— Updated at 6:25 p.m.