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Trump Says Governor Is Doing 'A Terrible Job' During California Visit

President Trump made the comment while inspecting prototypes for his promised border wall on Tuesday.

By: James Packard

Posted at 6:59 PM, Mar 13, 2018

and last updated 2018-03-13 18:59:25-04

President Donald Trump visited California's southern border with Mexico on Tuesday to take a look at some of the proposals for his championed border wall.

He looked over prototypes with the crews in charge of building them and made suggestions of his own.

"You have to have see-through," Trump said. "You have to know what's on the other side of the wall. ... If you don't know what's on — I mean, you could be 2 feet away from a criminal cartel and you don't even know they're there."

Customs and Border Protection is evaluating the wall samples to figure out which one will best keep people from getting through it, getting over it or getting under it. The agency is also looking at how the prototypes would affect traffic flow and if they're safe for border patrol agents.

This marked Trump's first trip to California as president, and he took time to slam state leadership not just for how it's handled immigration but how the state is run in general.

"Well, I think Gov. Brown's done a very poor job running California. They have the highest taxes in the United States," Trump said. "The place is totally out of control. You have sanctuary cities where you have criminals living in the sanctuary cities. ... No, I think the governor's doing a terrible job running the state of California."

Really quick fact-check: The richest Californians do have the highest state income tax in the country, but when you look at the whole picture, state and local tax burden, WalletHub says California ranks 10th-highest.

Democratic candidates for the governorship pre-emptively attacked Trump ahead of his arrival Tuesday, taking advantage of the political opportunity to distance themselves from a president who's deeply unpopular in California.

"Let's get real. Donald Trump's border wall is a monument to idiocy," Democratic candidate and California Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a video posted on Twitter. "A 1,900-mile waste of taxpayer money."

Additional reporting from Newsy affiliate CNN.