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Homeland security secretary was close to resigning after Trump berated her

By Michael D. Shear NEW YORK TIMES   

WASHINGTON — Kirstjen Nielsen, the homeland security secretary, told colleagues she was close to resigning after President Trump berated her Wednesday in front of the entire Cabinet for what he said was her failure to adequately secure the nation’s borders, according to several current and former officials familiar with the incident.

Nielsen, who is a protégée of John F. Kelly, the White House chief of staff, has drafted a resignation letter but has not submitted it, according to two of the people. As the head of the Department of Homeland Security, Nielsen is in charge of the 20,000 border agents who work for Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Trump’s anger toward Nielsen at the Cabinet meeting was part of a lengthy tirade in which the president railed at his entire Cabinet about what he said was their lack of progress toward sealing the country’s borders against unauthorized immigrants, according to one person who was present at the meeting.

Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the White House press secretary, said Thursday that “the president is committed to fixing our broken immigration system and our porous borders. We are a country of laws and the president and his administration will enforce them.’’

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The president’s anger about immigration has grown in recent weeks, according to several officials. Trump repeatedly claimed credit for the fact that during his first year in office illegal border crossings dropped to their lowest levels in decades. But this year, they have risen again, robbing him of one of his favorite talking points.

One person familiar with the president’s blowup at the meeting said it was triggered by a discussion about why Mexico was not doing more to prevent illegal border crossings into the United States. Another person said the president was primarily focused on the Homeland Security Department because he views Nielsen as primarily responsible for keeping unauthorized immigrants out of the country.

During the meeting, Trump yelled about the fact that the United States has a porous border and said that more needs to be done to fix it. When members of his Cabinet pointed out that the country relies on day laborers who cross the border each day, Trump said that is fine, but continued to complain, one person said.

Nielsen viewed the president’s rant as directed mostly at her and told associates after the meeting that she should not continue in the job if the president did not view her as effective. One person close to Nielsen said she is miserable in her job.

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