Trump wants his border fence painted black with spikes. He also has other ideas.

Trump asked Homeland Security officials to come to the White House shortly to discuss the construction of the wall. Former secretary Kirstjen Nielsen woke up several times to discuss the project early in the morning, officials said.

Trump also repeatedly summoned General Todd T. Semonite, chief of the US Army Corps of Engineers, to share his views on the properties of the barrier, demanding that the structure physically imposing but also aesthetic.

"He thinks it's ugly," said an administration official aware of Trump's views, who, like others, spoke on condition of anonymity to avoid being fired.

The president sees himself as a "builder," said David Lapan, a former Homeland Security official who worked for the department, who spent more than $ 3 million on the construction of eight border fence prototypes near San Diego. .

"But building in New York is not the same as setting up a border fence," said Lapan, currently at the Bipartisan Policy Center in Washington. "You do not look for aesthetics; you are looking for a feature. "

Domestic Security officials had opted for the steel bollard many years before, but Lapan said many of the prototypes were built of concrete to suit the president's tastes.

Homeland Security officials declined to comment on the president's design requests for barriers and his conversations with engineers and border services officers. A spokesman for the army corps confirmed that Semonite had met with Trump several times and had referred inquiries to the White House.

The president – who has repeatedly promised to force Mexico to pay for the wall of his desired border – has pledged to build 400 miles of new gates by next year, a goal that he reiterated during a speech on immigration delivered Thursday afternoon at the White House. The plan would likely require that he reprogram additional funds from taxpayers from military budgets.

The changing tastes of Trump potentially raise prices. He remains convinced that the barrier should be painted black, despite warnings that it would significantly increase construction costs and maintenance budgets.

"Once you paint it, you still have to paint it," said another administration official.

Trump has also changed his mind several times about the height of the structure, calling on engineers to make it as high as possible, although his desires have been tempered by concerns of cost and anxiety. engineers as to the integrity of the structure.

The detractors of the president are determined to stop or slow down a project they denounce as a useless monument to the vanity of the president – more symbolic than safe, along a border that can not be completely closed because of the rugged geography and Rio Grande.

The concertina wire is seen at the top of a section of the fence near the US-Mexico border in Donna, Texas on May 2. (Loren Elliott / Reuters)

In the compromise deal to end the government shutdown in February, Democrats agreed to provide $ 1.4 billion for border protection, far less than Trump's $ 5 billion requested by Trump . Democrats have also inserted spending-limiting language on "operational efficiency projects" already used by US Customs and Border Protection.

Before his dismissal from DHS last month, Nielsen had had "very specific meetings" on the wall project, said another administration official. She felt that the president's keen interest in the appearance of the fence had become a distraction for more urgent issues concerning the border, the official said. Nielsen did not respond to a request for comment.

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During the 2016 election campaign, the president told the crowd of fan singers that he wanted the wall to be big and "handsome", and these two qualities continue to motivate his demands.

"He thinks that the wall can not only be effective, it does not have to be a source of visual pollution," said a DHS official. "He wants a uniform uniform height. That's what he's looking for, and we have to match that to the operational reality. "

Steel bollards remain vulnerable to sawing, but Homeland Security subcontractors have filled the hollow metal cavity with an unknown compound to make them more difficult to cut. The material is poured to a certain height – which officials have refused to specify, for safety reasons – and then ordinary, cheaper concrete is added.

One official described the anti-saw compound as "secret sauce" in the kiosks, refusing to provide further details.

Trump has often mentioned the construction of the barrier during unrelated meetings and the staff have learned to bring notebooks or sketches to answer his questions. He was often frustrated when he learned that more than the fence was not built, said current and former officials.

He continued to insist that construction work be expedited, claiming that his aides would tell him that it would take many years, according to former officials of the administration. Trump frequently searched every detail of the contracts and suggested that some of his friends in New York have ideas on how to build it faster, officials said.

In periodic meetings to inform the president of construction progress, sometimes more than once a month, Trump asked questions about how border workers could "cut a hole, dig underneath, climb up". from one participant to the meeting.

Some of the Chair's requests have resulted in significant design changes. In particular, he insisted on increasing the height of the structure to 30 feet, much higher than the range of 15 to 18 feet on which CBP officials had previously been declared optimal.

The benefits of the 30-foot design were highlighted after the administration paid for the prototype series, said another former manager.

"We were able to test what happens when you place someone so high up. They freeze, "said the former manager. "It was very helpful to put people on a 30-foot wall."

Another official, familiar with the president's wishes, said: "He always wanted to go higher."

Barbara Res, a former Trump Organization executive, said Trump would be closely involved in the design aspects of its hotels, resorts and other development projects. "If it was very visible, he was very involved," she said.

Res said the president cared deeply about, for example, the type of marble and brass in the Trump Tower, as well as the types of floors in the apartments and kitchen finishes – details that Res called "trivial." ".

But for a large-scale project, she said, "Who cares about the color of a wall?"

According to a former manager, one of the Trump models, featuring a rounded barrel-shaped panel, prevented climbing from climbing. Approved barrier designs include a flat-screen anti-climbing surface that has been tested in the field, but the chair does not like its appearance.

Trump told a group of helpers that the metal spikes would cut off climbers' hands and serve as a more effective deterrent.