As you may recall, Trump directed the Department of Homeland Security to identify funds that could be redirected to pay for his fantasy border wall, but the department was only able to identify a measly $20 million in funding that could be redirected. $20 million is barely enough to even begin considering the design of a wall.
The idea that vulnerable Republican Congressmen facing elections next year would fork over tens of billions of dollars in funding for an ineffectual wall, or that any Democrats would support its creation, was always a dubious prospect, but the realities of the GOP's very narrow majority in Congress are hitting home.
The White House would like to see funding for a border wall attached to the extension of the continuing resolution that funds the federal government for the remainder of fiscal 2017, but doing so would never survive a filibuster by Democrats and Republicans may not be in the mood for another losing fight right now.
Both Senators John Cornyn and Lindsey Graham have strongly implied that Trump won't see any funding.
“It remains to be seen,” said Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn (R-Texas) in an interview. “What I would like to see is a plan for how the money would be spent and a good faith discussion about what border security is really composed of. We haven’t had that.” [...]
“The border wall is probably not a smart investment,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), who proposes funding the wall as part a package legalizing some young undocumented immigrants and beefing up enforcement.
It it doesn't happen now, it probably never will. Members of Congress will only become less likely to grant Trump's requests over time, not more. And if the federal government is funded through the rest of the fiscal year, there will be scant opportunity to do so in the future.
With all of this said, I would not be surprised if the Trump regime continues to pretend that a wall is being built, a wall that is suppose to be over 30 feet tall, resistant to industrial cutting tools, and pretty. I would not be surprised if they move forward with land seizures even if there's no funding available to actually build anything on the land.
I'd be lying if I said I wasn't amused by the thought. The Republican party ostensibly wants to return control of federal land to the states, but Trump may try to seize vast tracts of private land for no substantiated purpose.