President Donald Trump said Friday he will be getting personally involved in negotiations with Democrats over Department of Homeland Security funding, which is set to expire at 12:01 a.m. Saturday.
Senate Democrats blocked a stand-alone DHS funding package Thursday because their demands weren't met regarding changes to immigration enforcement.
DHS has been operating under a stopgap measure after funding was carved out of a full government appropriations package to appease Democrats and avoid a partial government shutdown.
Although funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Customs and Border Protection, and other Trump administration immigration enforcement efforts was set for the rest of Trump's second term through the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, DHS risks losing funds for other agencies, including the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Coast Guard, the Secret Service, and the Transportation Security Administration.
Before departing the White House for a trip to Fort Bragg in North Carolina, Trump was asked if he had been personally involved in negotiations between the White House and Capitol Hill. His remarks aired on Newsmax and the free Newsmax2 streaming platform.
"Well, I will," he said. "But you have to remember, if you look at Homeland Security, if you look at what they've done, if you look at what ICE has done and Border Patrol, we have the safest border in the history of our country. Nobody comes in other than if they come in legally.
"If you remember just a little while ago, a year and a half ago, for a four-year period, they allowed 25 million people in our country. Many of these people are murderers and drug dealers. A horrible thing. We've gotten a lot of them out. We now have the best record in the history of our country on crime. It was just announced our crime numbers are the best in 125 years.
"So, I am here to protect law enforcement and our great police and ICE and Border Patrol and everybody. I'm here to protect them because they're protecting us, and the job they've done is incredible."
Democrats have said they will not support DHS funding unless a list of 10 policy demands is met.
Those include requiring court-issued warrants for certain enforcement actions, clearer identification requirements for DHS officers, new use-of-force standards, and a ban on racial profiling.
They argue the changes are necessary following the fatal shooting of two anti-ICE protesters last month during encounters with federal law enforcement in Minneapolis.
Trump said "we'll see what happens" when asked about the prospects for a deal to restore DHS funding.
"We're talking, but you know, we have to protect law enforcement," he said. "ICE has done a phenomenal job. Border Patrol. We have a closed border for the first time in history. We have to protect law enforcement, our police, Border Patrol, ICE, and others in law enforcement.
"I know what they want. I know what they can live with. The Democrats have gone crazy. They're radical left lunatics. That's why their cities are so unsafe. The blue cities are the cities that are unsafe, so we have to protect our law enforcement."
Michael Katz ✉
Michael Katz is a Newsmax reporter with more than 30 years of experience reporting and editing on news, culture, and politics.
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