Trump reportedly wanted to shut down the entire U.S. southern border in March
Mad about the number of undocumented immigrants crossing into the United States, President Trump came up with a plan this spring that he was sure would solve the problem: shut down the entire 2,000-mile southern border.
More than a dozen White House and administration officials told The New York Times all about this wild idea, which came up during a meeting in March with high-ranking officials like then-Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney. Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law and senior adviser, and Stephen Miller, his hardliner immigration adviser, were also present.
Not only did Trump want the border shut down, the officials told the Times, but he wanted it done by noon the next day. Thinking about the number of tourists who would get stranded and goods unable to cross over from the U.S. to Mexico, they knew this was a terrible idea, but that was par for the course — the officials told the Times Trump had already talked about electrifying the wall, putting alligators and snakes in a trench in front of the wall, and shooting migrants in the legs to slow them down.
Trump was filled with rage, the officials said, cursing and saying, "You are making me look like an idiot! I ran on this. It's my issue." After the meeting, Trump agreed to give them a week to close the border down, and finally, after promises were quickly made to do something about the number of border crossings and asylum requests, he decided the border could stay open, the Times reports.
By that point, Miller was in Trump's ear, saying now was the right time to do a purge and get rid of Homeland Security officials who had too much empathy for asylum seekers and told Trump when his ideas broke the law, the officials told the Times. Read more about the overhaul and the attempts to push back against Trump at The New York Times.
