This isn't the first time Trump has used this exact strategy. In 2019, he ordered that segments of the wall be painted black to make them hotter. However, when The Washington Post visited a section of the wall near Sasabe, Ariz., in March 2022 — less than 18 months after it was applied — the paint was already peeling off.

The Trump administration is painting the U.S.-Mexico border fence black to make the steel so hot migrants won't climb it. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem unveiled the plans Aug. 19 in a news conference in Santa Teresa, New Mexico, while workers ran paint rollers up the steel bollards behind her.