President Trump pushes back against chief of staff over border wall

Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard, D-Calif., asked Kelly to explain some of Trump’s campaign promises to construct a border wall.

The former Marine general told the Hispanic Caucus of Democratic House members that Trump’s campaign promises about a border wall with Mexico were “uninformed” and took credit for his role urging the president’s “evolving” on immigration policy.

“We have some ideas on how things like visa fees, renegotiation on NAFTA, on what that would mean to our economy”, Kelly said on Fox News’ Special Report with Brett Baier. “I have confidence we’ll pass this”. Pena Nieto has refused to pay for the wall.

Kelly also told caucus members that he had tempered Trump’s negative view of DACA and that the president was committed to finding a solution to replace the program, which protects some 780,000 so-called “Dreamers”.

Mr Trump complicated the negotiations further on Thursday when he tweeted that a children’s health care program should not be part of the short-term agreement, which goes against the Republicans’ stated strategy.

The flare-up comes at a crucial time for the administration with the clock ticking down to a government shutdown on Friday night.

Trump tweeted Thursday that some of the wall will be see-through, and he wrote that the wall was never supposed to be built where there are natural barriers.

“It’s an absolute mess, the White House”.

Trump also says he doesn’t want to see a government shutdown – and the shutdown deadline is fast approaching.

“The wall is wall [.] and shall be paid, directly or indirectly, or through long-term reimbursement by Mexico, which has a trade surplus of 71 billion dollars with United States”.

On Thursday morning, President Trump indicated that he would not sign off on an immigration deal unless Congress strikes a deal to fund his border wall.

But Mr Trump directly contradicted his chief of staff in a flurry of early-morning tweets.

And that statement is giving some people hope for a compromise.

Gutierrez, a vocal opponent of Trump and outspoken proponent of a comprehensive immigration overhaul, apologized directly to Kelly for comments he made in the fall.

The Post reported that Kelly told legislators a few sections of the border needn’t bother with a divider and there will be no physical boundary “that Mexico will pay for”.

In relation to Trump’s drugs claim, the SRE said that “illicit trafficking of drugs, weapons and money” is a “shared problem that will only end if the root causes are addressed: the high demand for drugs in the United States and the supply from Mexico (and other countries)”.

The president likewise has not been reluctant to freely undermine remarks made by his senior staff.

During the closed-door meeting with members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, Kelly also said Trump supports permanent legal protections for undocumented immigrants who were brought to the country as children, including the almost 700,000 people enrolled in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.