Trump says 'if there's a concrete wall in front of you, go through it, go under it, go around it', in rediscovered 2004 video

Advice stands in stark contrast to president's demands over US-Mexico border wall

Footage of Donald Trump has resurfaced in which he implores an audience never to let walls stop them from achieving their goals.

“Never, ever give up. Don’t give up. Don’t allow it to happen,” Mr Trump told graduates during a commencement speech at Wagner College, New York, in 2004.

“If there’s a concrete wall in front of you, go through it, go over it, go around it. But get to the other side of that wall.”

Video footage of the speech, for which Mr Trump was awarded an honorary degree, was first posted on Twitter by satirical news programme The Daily Show on Wednesday evening.

The advice stands in stark contrast to the US president’s insistence a border wall across the country's southern border would stop almost all illegal migration from Mexico.

“The only reason they (Democrats) do not want to build a Wall is that Walls Work!” Mr Trump tweeted on Sunday. “99% of our illegal Border crossings will end, crime in our Country will go way down and we will save billions of dollars a year!

“A properly planned and constructed Wall will pay for itself many times a year!”

Mr Trump’s determination for $5.7bn (£4.5bn) in wall funding from Congress has led to the 72-year-old shutting down parts of the US government, in an escalating crisis now in its 20th day.

Democratic leaders in Congress refuse to grant money for a border wall they consider immoral and ineffective.