President Trump condemned Democrats in Congress for inaction on immigration and criticized the Ninth Circuit for ruling against his administration.
“We are building a lot of wall and we are being very strong on the border,” Trump said. “But we are bucking a court system that never ever rules for us, and we are bucking really bad things with the Democrats in Congress not willing to act.”
“We have murders coming in. We have drug lords coming in. We have gangs coming in,” he continued. “We are stopping them, and if we don’t stop them ICE is throwing them the hell out.
The president responded to a question about the recent resignations at the Department of Homeland Security. He bristled at characterizations of the departure of former DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen telling a reporter “I never said I was cleaning house.”
He praised Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Kevin McAleenan: “I think Kevin is going to do a fantastic job.”
“Homeland security that is exactly what we want,” Trump said. “There is no better term, there is no better name. We want homeland security and that’s what we are going to get.”
Trump continued his criticism of court decisions. “No one believes these decisions we are getting from the Ninth Circuit. It is a disgrace,” he said.
And Democrats in Congress, Trump said, are responsible for the “greatest obstruction you’ve ever seen.”
“All they have to do is spend 20 minutes and they could fix this whole problem,” he continued before slamming current immigration laws which he considers “the worst laws of any country anywhere in the world.”
Trump accused Democrats of wanting open borders, “which means they want to have crime, they want to have drugs pouring into our country. They don’t want to act.”
Please check all quotes against tape/transcript.