Solar border wall was 'my idea,' Trump says

— -- When President Donald Trump pitched his idea for an energy-producing border wall covered in solar panels Wednesday night to that spirited campaign crowd in Iowa, he called the proposal “my idea.”

“And we're thinking of something that's unique. We're talking about the southern border, lots of sun, lots of heat. We're thinking about building the wall as a solar wall so it creates energy and pays for itself,” Trump said to the cheering audience.

He said they were the first group with whom he'd shared the idea.

“Pretty good imagination, right?" he said "Good? My idea.”

However, back in April when Department of Homeland Security was reviewing bids for the wall project, at least one contractor, Gleason Partners LLC of Las Vegas, submitted a plan to use solar panels to cover sections of the wall.

Gleason Partners was responding to a request for proposal from the DHS that specifically asked “for offers to be submitted for a Solid Concrete Border Wall.”

Months later, in early June, ABC News reported that during a meeting with Republican congressional leaders, Trump pitched the idea for a 40- to 50-foot-high wall covered with solar panels.

Trump told the lawmakers they could talk about the idea with others, but on one condition: They had to say it was his idea.