Mattis has spoken to Trump about DOD paying for 'the wall'

Defense Secretary Jim Mattis has spoken with President Trump about the Pentagon potentially paying the $25 billion bill for a wall on the southern border with Mexico, the Defense Department's chief spokeswoman confirmed today.

Dana White said Mattis and Trump have had an "initial conversation," but she stopped short of providing any details.

"The secretary has talked to the president about it, but I don't have any specifics," she said. "They have talked about the proposal. Securing Americans and securing the nation is of paramount importance to the secretary."

The Washington Post first reported this week that Trump has floated the notion that the military should pay for the border wall out of its sizable fiscal year 2018 budget boost.

Trump also took to Twitter on March 25 and urged the government to "build the wall through M." The "M" stands for "military," according to the Post's report.

Since then, analysts and senior lawmakers, many of whom oppose the idea, have weighed in on the possibility, saying it would require a bipartisan act of Congress to reprogram funds from their original purpose.

Senior Democrats, meanwhile, oppose the idea.