Markwayne Mullin Estimates Primary Border Wall Will Be Done By Next Summer. Is That Even Possible?

Interesting border wall, donald trump, markwayne mullin admin June 24, 2026 0 Comments

Markwayne Mullin Estimates Primary Border Wall Will Be Done By Next Summer. Is That Even Possible?

U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Sec. Markwayne Mullin estimated that the primary border wall will be completed by next summer, but a June 21 report from Axios raises questions.

DHS has finished just 10% of the intended primary border wall, with around 698 miles of wall still to be constructed, according to Axios, who cited a Customs and Border Protection (CBP) spokesperson as well as federal data. Around 2.6 miles of the primary border wall have been built per week in 2026 thus far, while an additional four miles of wall were built between June 5 and June 10, the swiftest reported increase. This comes after Mullin estimated that the primary border wall would be finished by early June 2027 during recent congressional testimony.

A CBP spokesperson told the Daily Caller that approximately 644 miles of primary border wall and approximately 75 miles of secondary border wall met operational requirements as of President Donald Trump’s inauguration for his second term on Jan. 20, 2025. Approximately 74 miles of new primary border wall and approximately 22 miles of new secondary border wall have been constructed as of June 12, 2025.

If CBP continued to build four miles of wall per week, it could build about 292 miles of wall, according to Axios. The outlet noted that the rate would need to rise to over 13 miles each week to achieve Mullin’s timeline.

Mullin gave his estimate during his June 2 testimony on DHS’s fiscal year 2027 budget before the House Homeland Security Committee. “On the border wall, first of all, we are on track to have the primary wall done — completed from the Pacific to the Gulf of America — this time next year. We will have all the contracts out by the end of this month. We are having great progress,” the secretary said. (RELATED: ‘We 100% Got People Killed’: DEA Reportedly Let Fentanyl Flood Border States)

A CBP spokesperson shared estimates about how much border wall has been built since Trump was inaugurated in an email to the Caller.

“As of January 20, 2025, there was ~644 miles of primary wall and ~75 miles of secondary wall that met the Border Patrol’s operational requirements. As of June 12, 2025, ~74 miles of new primary and ~22 miles of new secondary have been constructed, for a total of ~718 miles of primary wall and ~97 miles of secondary wall that meet operational requirements,” the spokesperson said.

“CBP has plans to construct an additional ~700 miles of primary and ~610 miles of secondary wall. These total numbers may change slightly until all construction contracts are completed. Furthermore, approximately 535 miles of detection technology, comprising a mixture of sensors and various towers, will be deployed, leveraging areas with natural barriers provided by the terrain,” the spokesperson said.

CBP previously said at least 25 miles of border wall had been completed since Jan. 20, 2025 in a June 5 press release. The agency said it expected 250 miles of new barriers to be finished by Sept. 30, 2026, suggesting the Trump administration intends to ramp up the rate of construction. Additionally, the agency placed an $11.4 billion funding contract for a smart wall, with all remaining contracts set to be awarded to contractors by June 30, 2026.

In April 2026, CBP Commissioner Rodney Scott said around 50 miles of the primary border wall had been built along with 5.5 miles of buoy barriers and 13.2 miles of secondary barriers, Axios reported. The project was stalled due to contract issues and local pushback.

Mullin also distinguished between the primary and secondary border walls in his June 2 congressional testimony.

“The primary wall is the first wall up because of the way the cartels adjust. They’re criminals, they’re thugs and they’re terrorists. We have to push out a secondary wall because they’ve been going in and cutting the wall, and before we can respond to some of these remote areas, they’ve been able to get through,” Mullin said.

Besides the secondary border wall, a smart wall will be constructed, according to the secretary.

“The smart wall is pretty impressive and we can put a drone in the sky and immediately keep eyes on them. So we’re well within track. The secondary wall — we feel like if we can continue to have the progress we have and the partnerships we’re having, we will probably complete that in the summer of [2028]. All of it will be fully completed. Now, weather can play a role in that, and that’s being pretty generous with time” he said.

The Daily Caller also contacted DHS for comment.