GoFundMe for border wall raises over $10 million from 174k donors

A Florida man has started a GoFundMe campaign to raise money online for President Trump’s border wall, saying “it’s up to Americans to help out and pitch in to get this project rolling.” As of Thursday evening, the GoFundMe campaign has raised more than $10 million, with a goal of $1 billion — one-fifth of the $5 billion that President Trump has been demanding, unsuccessfully, from Congress.

Brian Kolfage, who says on the page he is a Purple Heart war veteran who lost three limbs, writes: “If the 63 million people who voted for Trump each pledge $80, we can build the wall.” So far, the fundraiser has received contributions from more than 174,000 people.

The president made building a wall at the U.S.’s southern border his signature campaign promise, and had vowed to proudly shut down the government this week if he did not get the $5 billion he was demanding for that project. But Congress would not comply with that demand, leaving some of the president’s conservative supporters angry that he agreed ultimately to keep the government open without the funding from Congress.

On the GoFundMe page, Kolfage writes that “the government has accepted large private donations before, most recently a billionaire donated $7.5 Million to fund half of the Washington Monument repairs in 2012; this is no different.”

The Senate late Wednesday approved a stopgap spending measure that will keep the government open until February without President Trump’s requested $5 billion for the wall. The spending measure now goes to the House of Representatives, and it has to be signed by Mr. Trump.