Is Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen on the verge of quitting?
Nielsen reportedly criticized the President for not acting faster on one of his key campaign promises, construction of a border wall. While a few prototypes have been built, the majority of the $20-$25 billion in funding required to construct the wall hasn’t been allocated.
A White House official confirmed that Trump exploded over the immigration issue in front of the Cabinet, and got into a heated argument with his DHS Secretary. The New York Times first reported on the argument, saying Trump berated Nielsen to the point she told colleagues she was close to resigning after the incident.
According to the Times:
Nielsen told colleagues she was close to resigning after President Trump berated her on Wednesday in front of the entire cabinet for what he said was her failure to adequately secure the nation’s borders, according to several current and former officials familiar with the episode.
While Trump getting into a heated discussion isn’t much of a story, that Neilsen would threaten to resign in response is. And even the Washington Post is contradicting that half of the story.
According to the Post:
President Trump berated Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen in a dispiriting Cabinet meeting on immigration Wednesday, according to three administration officials, but her colleagues denied reports that she has threatened to quit.
DHS Press Secretary Tyler Q. Houlton also denied that Nielsen would be resigning:
The @nytimes article alleging that the Secretary drafted a resignation letter yesterday and was close to resigning is false. The Secretary is hard at work today on the President's security-focused agenda and supporting the men and women of @DHSgov.
— Tyler Q. Houlton (@SpoxDHS) May 10, 2018
So not only is there still a leaker in Trump’s Cabinet, there’s one releasing deliberately misleading information.
Nielsen is in charge of 20,000 border agents who work at ICE, and during the blowup, Trump reportedly blamed her over the fact that 50,000 illegals came into federal custody at the border between March and April, despite the administration’s efforts to crack down on prior “catch and release policies.”
It would seem that each thinks the other isn’t being strict enough on illegal immigration – but there’s no reason to think that anyone is resigning over this. Neilsen criticised Trump for not doing enough on illegal immigration, to which he made the same criticism of her. If anything else, this fight makes a case that it’s likely immigration laws will be strengthened soon.
What do you think? Is the liberal media trying to push a narrative that there is chaos in the Trump White House? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below!
