“After years of neglect, this administration has taken a strong stand to stiffen the protection of our borders.” So said Bill Clinton in his 1995 State of the Union Address. Now, after a 22-year wait, Donald Trump will see that plan through. Trump tweeted Tuesday, “Big day planned on NATIONAL SECURITY tomorrow. Among many other things, we will build the wall!” And so begins Trump’s great wall project, which was mocked and derided by so many both in the mainstream media and the Washington establishment as merely a campaign slogan that would never actually see the light of day.

Honestly, one can hardly fault people for holding this pessimistic view, as history shows that politicians talk a good game but rarely act on their words — as typified by Clinton’s SOTU speech. As Rush Limbaugh so often quipped, “symbolism over substance” is largely Washington’s modus operandi. Thus far, Trump is deviating from that script.

We cautioned yesterday to give Trump time on immigration. Less than 24 hours later, we were proved right.

An interesting side note: While Trump is signing this latest executive order today, Mexican foreign minister Luis Videgaray will be arriving in Washington to prepare for the visit of Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto. Much of the visit will focus on trade issues, but it would be naïve to think that Trump’s statements regarding Mexico paying for the wall don’t factor into the conversation. One thing’s for sure, Trump is proving that there is indeed a new sheriff in town.

(PS The U.S. is nearly finished building a wall for Jordan to keep out potential Islamic State terrorists.)