DHS Secretary Noem says entire southern border wall will be painted black to stop people from climbing it

[Oeditpus Rex]

Source: CBS News

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Tuesday that the entire wall along the U.S.-Mexico border is going to be painted black to make it hotter and deter illegal immigration — an idea she said was "specifically at the request" of President Trump.

Noem spoke during a visit to a portion of the wall in New Mexico, where she also picked up a roller brush to help out with the painting.

Read more: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/dhs-secretary-says-entire-southern-border-wall-to-be-painted-black-to-stop-people-from-climbing-it/

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It'll be so hot, those wooden ladders will burst into flame!

[taxi]

1. So CBP will no longer need daytime jobs

Now all that's left to do is put up signs stating that all daytime crossings have been rescheduled to nighttime.

[nuxvomica]

2. They shouldn't paint the whole thing black

Just black arches that look like tunnels. That way people, and coyotes, will just smash into them while road runners will still get through. I don't know why the stable genius whose uncle taught Ted Kaczynski at MIT didn't think of that.

[Oeditpus Rex]

4. ...

[Ray Bruns]

11. Beep! Beep!

https://m.

[Grokenstein]

3. At this rate, nuking hurricanes will become a real thing.

[Irish_Dem]

5. The painting contractor must have made a huge bribe.

[Bengus81]

20. Yeah...my first thought too. Trump going to line his pockets over this too....

[Irish_Dem]

23. Trump does nothing unless it benefits him personally.

[Prairie Gates]

6. Now the MAGAs will have to come up with some plausible explanation for this stupidity

They really have to bear a heavy burden, constantly justifying these boneheaded ideas. One almost feels sorry for them.

[Mawspam2]

7. Well, really, it's all about rust prevention, you know, in a desert, where it rarely rains.

[mackdaddy]

8. You really expect stories like this to be from the Onion. Nope, just Trump world.

You know this really is from the dear leader. Right up there with the injecting bleach ideas.

[orangecrush]

31. Exactly what I thought

[Blue Dotty]

9. Specifically at the request of President Trump

I suppose if he asked you to shoot puppies, you would do that too? Oh, never mind.

[RealityChik]

35. I thought Trump's favorite color was tacky gold?

And besides, who wants to come to the US, anyway? Nothing worth risking your life for. Oh well, ketchup shows up better on black anyway…

[Javaman]

10. sure, cool story, bro...

considering the "wall" isn't much of a wall but a bad fence with lots and lots of holes and almost all of it incomplete.

[travelingthrulife]

22. as a southwest dweller I find it interesting the mythology

surrounding the border and this wall.

There is no wall except at the photo-op sites. There are no hordes of immigrants crossing the border.

[Javaman]

30. yup, texas here. locals down at the boarder call it the photo op wall LOL nt

[Oeditpus Rex]

36. Black is a much better background color

for orange skin, anyway.

[Old Testament Libera]

45. Black and Orange!

Just in time for Halloween!

I bet Trump wants to be appointed the Great Pumpkin too.

[Ray Bruns]

12. I think I heard a song about this

https://m.

[C_U_L8R]

28. I see a dumb wall and he wants to paint it black

No coloreds anymore, he wants them to turn back

[Mopar151]

13. Black radiates heat better,too.

Junkyard science! If you leave a chrome plated object out in the sun, next to a piece of rusty iron, the chrome part will get much hotter!
Satin black over rust will stay cooler than super shiny high gloss black.

Rechargeable saws will cut through the bars easily enough, anyway.

[Red Mountain]

14. I heard the cartels are rolling out sophisticated countermeasures already.....

you know......gloves.

Real high tech arms race going on down there. Hope Trump can keep up.

[lildDemz]

15. Oven mitts

will be banned within 100 miles of the borders.

[travelingthrulife]

19. Reminds me of the times after his foolish partial wall was built, Mexican kids were timing themselves

to see who could get over it fastest. It was like 20 seconds

[Pisces]

26. Also walking to the gaps in the fence.

[70sEraVet]

16. Wait till Noem finds out that the Rio Grande is a RIVER!

[sop]

55. Trump wanted alligators and snakes in the water...

(NYT) "The president had often talked about fortifying a border wall with a water-filled trench, stocked with snakes or alligators, prompting aides to seek a cost estimate. He wanted the wall electrified, with spikes on top that could pierce human flesh. After publicly suggesting that soldiers shoot migrants if they threw rocks, the president backed off when his staff told him that was illegal. But later in a meeting, aides recalled, he suggested that they shoot migrants in the legs to slow them down. That’s not allowed either, they told him."

When Trump was asked about the alligators during one of his border photo ops, he responded crocodiles would be better since they were more aggressive.

[sinkingfeeling]

17. Another excellent waste of taxpayer money.

[dedl67]

54. No worry! Mexico will pay for it.

[travelingthrulife]

18. Well, that is breathtakingly stupid

All the hordes of imaginary immigrants will certainly stay away now!

[Brainfodder]

21. Just paint it clear and they won't see it and face plant right into it and easier to round up!

So obvious!

[Oeditpus Rex]

38. Another Road Runner - Coyote kinda scheme (n.t.)

[iamnoone]

24. Paint It Black

We’re all straightmen in a gargantuan Three Stooges episode.

[Fla Dem]

25. LOL, too ridiculous. That wall will be hot no matter what color it is.

[Amaryllis]

27. Is this satire?

[Hey Joe]

29. Why even bother

In six months you won’t be able to pay anyone to enter this country.
This regime has already made America as popular as syphilis .
Save the money, we’re toxic enough with a president who rolls out the red carpet for
murderers.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

32. MaddowBlog-With black paint on border barriers, Trump and Noem are repeating a familiar mistake

Last edited Wed Aug 20, 2025, 02:25 PM - Edit history (1)

The last time the president ordered officials to apply black paint to border barriers, it was an expensive failure. Naturally, he’s trying it again.

As you see reports about Trump/Noem painting border barriers black, don’t forget the recent history:

When Trump made this same demand five years ago, it was an expensive and wasteful failure. True to form, he’s repeating the same mistake, expecting a different result. www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddo...

— Steve Benen (@stevebenen.com) 2025-08-20T15:58:42.730Z

https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/black-paint-border-barriers-trump-noem-are-repeating-familiar-mistake-rcna226052

The enormous amount of new spending will also includes money for, of all things, the president’s preferred paint color. The Associated Press reported:

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Tuesday that the entire border wall along the southern border with Mexico is going to be painted black to make it hotter and deter illegal immigration — and she credited President Trump with the idea. Noem spoke during a visit to a portion of the wall in New Mexico, where she also picked up a roller brush to help out with the painting.

The Cabinet secretary added that the paint project is being done “specifically at the request of the president, who understands that in the hot temperatures down here, when something is painted black, it gets even warmer, and it will make it even harder for people to climb.”

There was, however, one relevant detail that Noem neglected to mention: The Trump administration already tried this same idea, and it didn’t work.......

Trump first started pushing the idea in 2019, at which point administration officials tried to explain to him that the painting project would waste too much time and money in pursuit of a goal that wouldn’t make much of a difference anyway. Border officials were confident at the time that Trump understood their concerns and would focus his energies elsewhere.

They were mistaken. In 2020, when the president should’ve been working on the pandemic, he ordered his team to start applying black paint to the barriers along the U.S.-Mexico border, insisting that it would make the barriers hot to the touch and discourage climbers.

To the surprise of no one, Trump was wrong and those who tried to discourage him were right. Not only did the black paint fail to discourage breaches, it also started peeling off about a year and a half after it was applied. The whole endeavor was an expensive waste.

And so, naturally, the Trump administration is giving it another try, expecting a different result, spending a lot of American tax dollars on an initiative that only makes sense in the president's imagination.

[tanyev]

52. Donald Trump "understands" lots of things that are completely wrong.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

33. Ever hear of gloves Krusty?

Or do you pull stuff out of the oven bare handed?

[SandyDoc]

34. Guess what trump?

People are no longer trying to get into this country since you took over and began making it into a shit pile. Sorry!!!

[sakabatou]

37. This is so mind-numbingly stupid

[LetMyPeopleVote]

39. This is another dumb trump idea

[mn9driver]

40. Blindingly stupid lackey pleasing a demented idiot.

Because it would never occur to someone to climb the wall after dark.

[Aristus]

41. Well, they made it tall so people wouldn't climb it. And that worked out well...

[LetMyPeopleVote]

42. LOL-Noem can only paint one side of this fence and Mexico is having fun painting the other side

Link to tweet

Link to tweet

[intelpug]

48. Paint one side of the fence

No, Actually the fence do's not run right on the border its self but is set back some distance so for a way's the side facing Mexico is still US territory

[travelingthrulife]

50. Now he'll sue Mexico for hurting his beautiful fence.

[Skittles]

43. SOUNDS SO......CHRISTIAN

FUCK THESE VILE FUCKING DISGUSTING PEOPLE

[Old Testament Libera]

44. Won't help in the winter

Texas, NM, Arizona, and CA borders have fall and winter.
And early spring. And night as well as day. It won't be hot all the time.

[fujiyamasan]

46. I bet they'll use undocumented workers to paint it

[kiranon]

47. No sense of style

Should incorporate art into the wall or at least better color or colors. Big beautiful wall is down right ugly. And unnecessary waste of money. At least, turn it into a work of art. (sarcasm alert)

[Skittles]

49. yeah because no one ever climbs at night

or uses gloves

[CrispyQ]

51. Is it true they're painting the US side not the Mexican side? -nt

[mdbl]

53. Kristi is such a stereotypical moron.

[Hotler]

56. Are they going to roll paint on by hand like she was doing? nt

[Walleye]

57. Oven mitts

[DrFunkenstein]

58. When Racist People Get High And Brainstorm

How this idea got beyond the "puff and pass" phase, I'll never understand. These guys were obviously listening to the Stones and wrote down "Paint It Black!" in Sharpie before they nodded off.

[truthisfreedom]

59. Who still wants to come here?

Who would bother?

[LetMyPeopleVote]

60. There is some amazing artwork on the Mexican side of the wall

Link to tweet

[LetMyPeopleVote]

61. Fascists are fucking morons.