President Donald Trump pushed back at chief of staff John Kelly and reiterated Mexico will pay for a border wall "directly or indirectly."
Trump also blasted Mexico for its "ridiculous $71 billion trade surplus with the U.S."
"The $20 billion wall is 'peanuts' compared to what Mexico makes from the U.S.," the president said.
His comments came in two tweets posted on Thursday morning.
The tweets came after earlier remarks by Kelly.
The Washington Post reported Trump's chief of staff had told Democratic lawmakers Wednesday that Mexico will never pay for the wall.
Kelly is quoted by the newspaper as saying there will be no wall "that Mexico will pay for."
Kelly also said some of the immigration policies Trump pushed during the campaign were "uninformed" and noted the U.S. will never build a wall along the entire southern border, the Post reported.
He maintained Trump's view on the border wall has evolved since the presidential campaign.
"This president, if you've seen what he's done, he has changed the way he's looked at a number of things," Kelly told Fox News on Wednesday.
"He has adjusted the way he's looked at the south Asia strategy, Afghanistan. He's changed his attitude toward the DACA issue and even the wall."
Trump came back with another tweet on the subject two hours later, underscoring his insistence that there will be no deal on DACA without a wall.