Snopes - Biden Selling Off Parts of Border Wall? Here's What We Know

In December 2024, U.S. President Joe Biden rushed to auction all leftover parts for building the wall along the southern border before President-elect Donald Trump took office.

What's True

Leftover materials from the border wall were indeed auctioned off, as required by a bill introduced by a Republican lawmaker in April 2023 and enacted that December. The legislation required that the secretary of defense submit a plan "to use, transfer, or donate" all "excess construction materials on southwest border" no later than 75 days after the enactment of the law, and to start executing the plan no later than 100 days after submitting the plan, "until the date on which the Department of Defense is no longer incurring any costs to maintain, store, or protect the covered materials."

What's False

However, the Department of Defense had sold all materials to auction platform GOVPLANET in a June 2024 contract, months before Trump was reelected. The sale had nothing to do with the timeline of Trump's accession to the White House.

A rumor that U.S. President Joe Biden was auctioning off part of the border wall between the U.S. and Mexico spread in December 2024, weeks before President-elect Donald Trump was due to take the oath of office for a second time — spurring criticism that Biden was sabotaging Trump's signature project during his first administration as well as wasting taxpayer money. For example, an X account that comments on U.S. immigration policy and uses the name and image of Trump's pick for "border czar," Tom Homan, posted on Dec. 12, 2024 (archived):

Link to tweet