President Donald Trump is obsessed with completing 500 miles of border wall before the 2020 election and has embarked on a frantic push to build it, which includes directives to simply “take the land” and promises of “don’t worry, I’ll pardon you” if his aides overstep the law.

According to the Post’s report, Trump is concerned that failing to come through on his signature campaign catchphrase, “Build the Wall,” will erode support within his famously loyal base and be seen as an “embarrassing defeat.” So far, the Trump administration’s efforts to harden the US-Mexico border have been relegated to replacing a few dozen miles of existing — older or damaged — fencing. New wall construction has barely progressed. So, to speed the process, Trump has reportedly held regular meetings at the White House to push for quicker action.

“When aides have suggested that some of his orders are illegal or unworkable, Trump has suggested he would pardon the officials if they would just go ahead,” aides told the Post. “He has waved off worries about contracting procedures and the use of eminent domain, saying ‘Take the land,’ according to officials present at the meetings.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll pardon you,” the president has reassured them, per the story.

The Trump administration offered the now-common White House response that his comments were actually a joke taken out of context.

According to the Post, the president has also been adamant about the look of the wall, insisting that it not merely have the appearance of normal concrete.

“Trump’s determination to build the barriers as quickly as possible has not diminished his interest in the aesthetic aspects of the project, particularly the requirement that the looming steel barriers be painted black and topped with sharpened tips,” the newspaper reported. “Administration officials have stopped trying to talk him out of those demands, and the US Army Corps of Engineers is preparing to instruct its contractors to apply black paint or coating to all new barrier fencing, the communications show.”

Photo credit: Mandel Ngan, AFP/Getty Images.

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