"We have to take care of these separations,” he said, according to a person in the room, encouraging lawmakers to come up with a legislative fix and recounting that his daughter and adviser, Ivanka Trump, had raised concerns about the policy.
Some people close to Trump have encouraged him to double down on the policy, arguing that border security was one of the central pillars of his campaign and is deeply popular with his conservative base.
The furor over President Donald Trump’s decision to forcibly separate thousands of migrant children from their families reached new heights on Wednesday after news broke that the administration is placing babies and toddlers in “tender age” shelters.
The revelation, published late Tuesday night by the Associated Press, capped a grim 24 hours that stood out as a low point even for a White House that long ago grew accustomed to operating in a perpetual state of crisis.
With cable news flashing images of migrant children in cages and lawmakers’ offices facing a flood of angry phone calls, the president and his allies looked increasingly disconnected from the uproar over the policy, which a recent poll showed was deeply unpopular across the country.
On Tuesday night, shortly before the AP story broke, Trump attended a $100,000-plus-per-person fundraiser at his hotel in Washington, D.C. Before that, he met with House Republicans at the Capitol, where he sounded off on everything from trade to fighter jets, while only briefly acknowledging the outcry over the situation at the U.S.-Mexico border.
"We have to take care of these separations,” he said, according to a person in the room, encouraging lawmakers to come up with a legislative fix and recounting that his daughter and adviser, Ivanka Trump, had raised concerns about the policy.
Earlier Tuesday, Trump revived the divisive anti-immigration rhetoric that defined his presidential campaign, warning on Twitter that immigrants would “infest” the United States. And on Wednesday morning, he again defended his border security policies, while bashing the press.
“The Fake News is not mentioning the safety and security of our Country when talking about illegal immigration,” he wrote on Twitter. “Our immigration laws are the weakest and worst anywhere in the world, and the Dems will do anything not to change them & to obstruct-want open borders which means crime!”
The swirling controversy has sparked tensions inside the White House and among Trump’s allies, again laying bare the divide between the president’s more moderate and hardline advisers.
Some people close to Trump have encouraged him to double down on the policy, arguing that border security was one of the central pillars of his campaign and is deeply popular with his conservative base. But others have privately expressed disgust at the policy.
One Republican former Department of Homeland Security official who has ties to the Trump administration and asked for anonymity to talk about the policy put it bluntly: “I’m ashamed of what they’re doing.”
Some close to the White House acknowledged that Trump’s strategy of shifting blame to Congress isn’t working, and they have begun wondering what the president will do next, noting that he and his advisers are increasingly aware that the fallout is deeply damaging.
Trump is often hesitant to backtrack on his policy pronouncements, viewing such shifts as a sign of weakness. But some of his outside advisers believe the status quo is increasingly unsustainable.
The AP story, which detailed “play rooms of crying preschool-age children in crisis,” struck a chord with many, prompting MSNBC host Rachel Maddow to break down in tears on her Tuesday night television show.
The story has given ammunition to Trump’s detractors, who paint his administration as callous and uncaring in the face of tragedy on the southern border.
Trump’s critics also pounced on an offensive comment by Trump’s former campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, on Fox News. When Democratic strategist Zac Petkanas referenced a report that a 10-year-old girl with down syndrome was among the children who had been separated from her family at the border, Lewandowski could be heard saying, “Womp, womp,” later adding that immigrants give up rights when they cross the border illegally.
Lewandowski is still firmly in Trump’s orbit, serving as an informal adviser and having recently joined Vice President Mike Pence’s political action committee.
While some in Trump’s inner circle have defended the policy, lawmakers in both parties have condemned it. Even the pope has weighed in, telling Reuters that he agreed with recent comments by U.S. Catholic bishops who called the policy “immoral.”
Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen has faced a severe backlash for her role in implementing Trump’s policy and vigorously defending it. She was confronted by protesters on Tuesday night while dining at an upscale Mexican restaurant in Washington. “How can you enjoy a Mexican dinner as you’re deporting and imprisoning tens of thousands of people who come here seeking asylum in the United States?” one protester asked.
Nielsen left the restaurant and a DHS spokesman later said, “While having a work dinner tonight, the Secretary and her staff heard from a small group of protesters who share her concern with our current immigration laws that have created a crisis on our southern border. The Secretary encourages all – including this group – who want to see an immigration system that works, that contributes to our economy, that protects our security, and that reflects our values to reach out to Members of Congress and seek their support to close the terrible immigration loopholes that have made our system a mess."
Trump, Nielsen and others have sought to shift the blame for the separations to Congress, arguing inaccurately that their hands are tied by the law. But experts said the administration, which has implemented a “zero tolerance” policy that calls for all illegal border crossers to be prosecuted, could stop the separations on its own without action from lawmakers.
White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders is expected to again face tough questions from reporters about the policy at her next televised briefing. But she is not expected to take questions in the White House briefing room on Wednesday because Trump is speaking at a rally in Minnesota.
Monday’s White House press briefing, which featured Nielsen defending the administration’s stance, was particularly contentious, with one reporter playing audio obtained by ProPublica of children wailing inside a U.S. Customs and Border Protection facility.
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