WASHINGTON – President-elect Donald Trump called on President Joe Biden to “stop selling the wall,” saying Monday it would be “almost a criminal offense” to auction off unused portions of the wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.

Trump, speaking at a news conference at his residence in Mar-a-Lago, Florida, referenced a report from the conservative-leaning Daily Wire that included video footage of trucks driving off with pieces of the wall and remarks from an anonymous Border Patrol agent about the Distance spoke selling wall materials from three locations in Arizona.

“I’m asking you today, Joe Biden, to please stop selling the wall,” Trump said.

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The White House did not immediately respond to Trump’s comments.

But a Biden administration official who discussed the matter on condition of anonymity disputed the characterization. The official told USA TODAY that the disposal of unused wall materials followed a mandate in the Fiscal Year 2024 National Defense Authorization Act, which Biden signed into law last December, requiring the Defense Department to develop a plan to “use, transfer or donate” materials .

The official said U.S. Customs and Border Protection used the requested materials for barrier projects, while other materials went to the governments of Texas and California at state requests. The products auctioned were materials left over after this process, the official said.

Some 500 miles of border barriers were built along the southern border during Trump’s presidency, and the former and incoming GOP president has vowed to complete the wall as part of his promised crackdown on migration in his second term.

“It’s very expensive, and now it’s about twice as expensive as it was six years ago,” Trump said Monday. “And the (Biden) administration is trying to sell it for five cents on the dollar, knowing full well that we’re getting ready to put it up. And what they’re doing is really an act – it’s almost a criminal act.”

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The Daily Wire reported that steel and other pieces of the wall will be sent to Pinal Airpark in Marana, Arizona, to be auctioned off through GovPlanet, an auction marketplace for surplus government equipment. “The goal is to get everything off the border before Christmas,” the unnamed border official is quoted as saying in the Daily Wire story.

A Defense Department official said all four southwest border states had been offered the materials but only two had accepted. About 40% of the unused border material was sold to GovPlanet at auction, the official said, which was deemed more cost-effective than paying for storage.

“The material currently being sold through GOVPLANET online auctions no longer belongs to the U.S. Government, and the Department of Defense has no legal authority to recall the material or stop further resale of material it no longer owns,” said the officer.

Trump said he had spoken with Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton about issuing a possible injunction, citing conversations on the topic with Texas Republican U.S. Senators Ted Cruz and John Cornyn.

“You know we’re going to use it,” Trump said of the Biden administration. “And if we don’t have it, we have to rebuild it, and it costs twice what it cost years ago, and that’s hundreds of millions of dollars, because you’re talking about a lot, a lot of the wall.” “

Trump said it was an “amicable transition” between the outgoing Biden administration and the new Trump team – but not in this regard.

“Just think of how ridiculous it is,” Trump said. “And these are just people who don’t want this country to succeed.”

Reach Joey Garrison on X @joeygarrison.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump calls on Biden to stop selling unused portions of border wall