Donald Trump is willing to go to absurd, cruel lengths to accomplish his sweeping deportation goals—even if it means sending immigrants back to random countries.
Trump and his circle have already begun a list of countries to deport immigrants to if their home countries refuse to accept them, including Turks and Caicos, the Bahamas, Panama, and Grenada, among others, NBC reported Thursday.
This means that thousands of people could be permanently displaced if the president-elect is able to go through with his “largest deportation operation in American history,” leaving immigrants in unfamiliar countries with uncertain futures. Trump also wants Mexico to accept non-Mexican immigrants.
Groups such as the ACLU fought Trump on this issue in his first term, and they are prepared to do so again. “We sued over this type of policy during the first Trump administration because it was illegal and put asylum-seekers at grave risk,” ACLU lawyer Lee Gelernt told NBC.
Spokespeople for Turks and Caicos, Grenada, and Mexico did not respond to NBC, while a spokesperson for Panama told the network, “The Panamanian government does not respond to assumptions and rumors. We cannot not speculate in this regard.”
The Bahamas, however, has already “reviewed and firmly rejected the plan,” the prime minister’s office said in a statement. This raises a key question: What will Trump do if none of his chosen countries agree to cooperate?
Regardless, the Trump team is determined to carry out this chaotic policy. “President Trump was given a mandate by the American people to stop the invasion of illegal immigrants, secure the border, and deport dangerous criminals and terrorists that make our communities less safe,” said spokesperson Karoline Leavitt. “He will deliver.”
Tulsi Gabbard’s ex-aides say that the former congresswoman, whom Donald Trump has nominated as the next director of national intelligence, used to regularly consume Russian state media.
ABC News, citing interviews with three of her former staffers, reported Thursday that Gabbard regularly read and shared articles from RT (formerly Russia Today), a state-run media outlet, even after being advised that RT wasn’t a credible source.
Gabbard has defended Russia at least since she represented Hawaii’s 2nd congressional district. In 2017, she sent a memo to her staff with her views on foreign policy, blaming the U.S. and NATO for provoking Russia and complaining about America’s “hostility towards Putin.”
“There certainly isn’t any guarantee to Putin that we won’t try to overthrow Russia’s government,” Gabbard wrote in the memo. “In fact, I’m pretty sure there are American politicians who would love to do that.”
In her 2020 run for president, she attacked the U.S. involvement in Syria’s civil war as a “regime change war” on Russia-backed Syrian President Bashar Al Assad. When Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, Gabbard blamed Ukraine’s bid to join NATO, drawing the ire of America’s national security establishment. Gabbard, a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army Reserve, has never worked in intelligence, another obstacle to Senate confirmation.
As a result of her pro-Russia views, Republicans in the Senate say Gabbard might have the toughest path of Trump’s nominees to confirmation, even as his secretary of defense pick, Pete Hegseth, faces sexual assault allegations and his FBI pick, Kash Patel, expresses a desire to prosecute Trump’s enemies.
“Behind closed doors, people think she might be compromised. Like it’s not hyperbole,” one Republican Senate aide told The Hill. “There are members of our conference who think she’s a [Russian] asset.”
Trump has already had two of his nominees drop out: his attorney general pick, Matt Gaetz, and his pick to run the DEA, Chad Chronister. Hegseth is drawing more negative news attention each day, and Patel is not winning over many supporters with his open threats to go after the so-called “deep state.” For now, Gabbard has flown under the radar, but that seems to be changing.
Donald Trump is reportedly railing against Pete Hegseth behind closed doors.
New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman appeared on CNN Wednesday to discuss Hegseth’s standing within the Trump administration.
“Trump has been complaining privately to people that he feels like Hegseth should have been more upfront with him, that he gave him opportunities,” Haberman told the network. “We also know … some of these things didn’t come up in a vet that the Trump folks said that they did of Hegseth.… It’s hard to see why senators who are already skeptical would be like, oh, OK, now I’m going to go along with this.”
Hegseth has been hit with allegations of rape, sexual harassment, alcoholism, and workplace misconduct, all since 2017. The Christian nationalist and former Fox & Friends Weekend host has been trying to rally support for himself, even sending his own mother out to make personal pleas to female senators on his behalf. But things aren’t looking great, and Trump knows it.
The CNN segment also included a clip of Hegseth’s appearance on the Megyn Kelly Show, where compared himself to Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, whose confirmation hearing was roiled by accusations of sexual assault. Hegseth said that Trump stood by his nominee then........