Donald Trump has made a baffling argument in an attempt to justify billions of dollars to pay for a wall on the US-Mexico border.
In the face of a partial government shutdown over the issue, the President flew to the Texas border with Mexico to try to bolster his case for the barrier.
He was flanked by tearful family members of people killed by illegal immigrants and border patrol agents who are not receiving pay checks during the shutdown.
But he also responded to criticisms that the wall is a “medieval” policy in a very curious way.
He said: “They say a wall is medieval. Well, a wheel is older than a wall.
“And I looked, and every single car out there, even the really expensive ones that the Secret Service uses - and believe me they are expensive - I said, ‘Do they all have wheels?’ ‘Yes.’ ‘Oh. I thought it was medieval.’”
He continued: “The wheel is older than the wall. You know that? There are some things that work. A wheel works and a wall works.”
Trump is adamant that a government funding bill to end the shutdown include $5.7 billion (4.5 billion pounds) for a border barrier - his signature campaign promise.
The standoff has left a quarter of the federal government closed down and hundreds of thousands of federal employees without pay.
Of his ‘wall vs wheel’ argument, a number of people made the same point.
Trump on Thursday also threatened to use emergency powers to bypass Congress to get his wall built.
“If we don’t have a barrier, a very substantial barrier of some kind, you’re not going to be able to solve this problem,” Trump said.