Author: admin

(ORLANDO, Fla.) — President Donald Trump said Sunday that he’s sending Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to U.S. airports to assist Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officers amid the ongoing Department of Homeland Security (DHS) shutdown.

“On Monday, ICE will be going to airports to help our wonderful TSA Agents who have stayed on the job despite the fact that the Radical Left Democrats, who are only focused on protecting hard line criminals who have entered our Country illegally, are endangering the USA by holding back the money that was long ago agreed to with signed and sealed contracts, and all,” Trump said in a post on his social media platform.

On Saturday, the president said he was ready to deploy ICE agents if Democrats didn’t “immediately sign an agreement” to end the shutdown.

Trump said that operations would include immigration enforcement. It’s not currently clear what security roles, exactly, ICE agents will take on in airports.

The White House referred ABC News back to the president’s post when asked what capacity Americans can expect to see ICE operating in at airports.

Tom Homan, Trump’s border czar, said Sunday that he was working with acting ICE Administrator Todd Lyons on plans that would “free up TSA agents for specialized tasks, like passenger and bag screening” and hopes to have final details together by the end of the day.

“We’re simply there to help TSA do their job in areas that don’t need their specialized expertise, such as, you know, screening through the x-ray machine, not trained on that, we won’t do that,” Homan told CNN’s “State of the Union.” “But there are roles we can play to release TSA officers from the non significant role, such as guarding an exit, so they can get back to the scanning machines and move people quicker.”

Trump’s statements come after Democrats on Friday blocked legislation to reopen DHS for the fifth time since the partial shutdown began in mid-February.

Democrats have demanded changes to policy surrounding ICE and Customs and Border Protection in exchange for votes to fund all of the department. Republicans, meanwhile, have rejected Democratic efforts to fund other agencies in DHS like the Coast Guard, Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

Thousands of TSA employees have now missed their first full paychecks, and travelers are facing long lines at airports around the country.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries blasted the plan to send ICE agents to airports.

“The last thing that the American people need are for untrained ICE agents to be deployed at airports all across the country, potentially to brutalize or, in some instances, kill them,” Jeffries told CNN’s “State of the Union.” “We’ve already seen how ICE conducts itself. These are untrained individuals when it comes to doing the current job that they have for the most part, let alone deploying them in close exposure in highly sensitive situations at airports across the country.”

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy on Sunday appeared to suggest that ICE agents would do more than Homan outlined, saying that ICE could be used to support airport screening.

“They run those same type of security machines at the southern border, right? Packages come through or people come through. They run similar assets,” Duffy said on ABC News’ “This Week,” adding that “even administratively they’ll be helpful.”

“But again, we have ICE agents who are trained and can provide assistance to agents,” Duffy said.

On Saturday, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., also urged Democrats to agree to a funding deal.

“At some point, the Democrats are going to have to take yes for an answer. I know they think this is politically good for them. It is not,” Thune said.

A bipartisan group of lawmakers has met behind closed doors with Homan throughout the week. The latest meeting concluded late Friday night.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, in speech on the Senate floor on Saturday, urged Republicans to support a Democratic effort to fund TSA while other negotiations continue.

“It is unacceptable for workers and travelers and entire airports to get taken hostage in political games, but that’s what the Republicans are doing,” Schumer, D-N.Y., said.  

“It is unacceptable to say we will only pay TSA workers if it is attached to a bill that funds ICE with no reforms, but that’s what the Republicans have been doing. Democrats want to pay TSA workers ASAP, with no strings attached,” Schumer added.

Copyright © 2026, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(WASHINGTON) — As the war with Iran enters its fourth week, Republican Sen. Thom Tillis said the Trump administration must make its objectives of the operation clearer before Congress approves additional funding.

“What is the objective, the primary objective?” ABC News’ “This Week” co-anchor Jonathan Karl asked Tillis in an interview that aired Sunday.

“I don’t know, and I think it’s a real problem,” the North Carolina senator said.

Praising last summer’s “Operation Midnight Hammer” when the U.S. military struck Iran’s nuclear facilities, Tillis said he “could see why we needed to finish some of the work and go back in,” but the weeks-long operation now is “ambiguous.” 

“I don’t know what our long-term strategic goals are, but we’re going to need to know that,” Tillis said. “I generally support what the president’s doing in Iran, but if we’re going to get anything close to the $200 billion supplemental request, we got to get 60 votes, and we’re going to have to figure out how to accomplish that.”

The Pentagon is seeking $200 billion in funding, according to a senior administration official. While he said the topline number could move, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth confirmed Thursday that the department will request additional funding for the war, saying, “It takes money to kill bad guys.”

As the war rages on, Iran continues to block the critical Strait of Hormuz. A significant share of the world’s oil passes through the strait each day, and the blockage has surged global oil prices. Gas prices in the U.S. are up $1 per gallon on average since the war began Feb. 28, according to GasBuddy.

“Can’t all of a sudden walk away”
President Donald Trump has mused about “winding down” the war soon and last week he suggested in a social media post that he may pull out of Iran before the Strait of Hormuz issues are resolved.

“I wonder what would happen if we ‘finished off’ what’s left of the Iranian Terror State, and let the Countries that use it, we don’t, be responsible for the so called ‘Strait?’ That would get some of our non-responsive ‘Allies’ in gear, and fast!!!” Trump posted Wednesday.

Tillis was critical of that option, arguing leaving the strait as it is harms U.S. allies in the region.

“We have a number of partners and allies in the region whose economic fortunes rests on the Strait of Hormuz being open,” Tillis said. “We’ve decided that we’re going to project power and try and produce good outcomes in the Middle East. You can’t all of a sudden walk away after you’ve kind of created the event and expect other people to pick it up and leave — and leave a good taste in their mouth.”

After Trump lashed out U.S. allies in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) for not assisting the U.S. with opening the Strait of Hormuz, labeling them “cowards,” Tillis — the co-chair of the Senate NATO Observer Group — defended those allies’ decisions.

“I don’t think that they’re cowards. I think they’re people that weren’t consulted on a major military operation, and I’d have the same reaction if I was the head of state,” Tillis said.

“These folks love the United States,” he added. “But they don’t appreciate the way they’re being treated right now. And I can, I can absolutely understand that.”

“American lives will be lost” without NATO
The North Carolina Republican also pushed back on Trump’s recent suggestion that he could leave NATO without consulting Congress. 

“Well, that’s factually not true. The president of the United States cannot withdraw from NATO,” Tillis said. “American lives have been saved by the NATO alliance, and American lives will be lost without it.”

In June, Tillis announced he would not seek reelection this year. No longer concerned with having to run a campaign, the self-described “plain-spoken” senator has become even more so.

He didn’t vote for the Republicans’ tax overhaul and spending cuts bill. He’s not planning to vote for the “SAVE America Act,” a Trump priority. He called out Trump’s Justice Department for seeking indictments against Democrats Trump accused of seditious behavior for posting a video telling service members not to follow illegal orders, and he’s threatening to hold up any nominee to the Federal Reserve until the DOJ ends its probe of Chair Jerome Powell.

But no members of Trump’s administration have received more criticism from Tillis than Stephen Miller, the deputy chief of staff to the president and one of his top advisers on immigration, and outgoing Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. Tillis has called the pair “sycophants” and called for Trump to fire Noem, which he ultimately did.

The president has praised Miller over the years. In October, he said he was “doing an unbelievable job” and told him, “The people of this country love you.” 

But Tillis said he doesn’t think Miller is “particularly loyal” to the president.

“If the president thinks that Stephen Miller is worried about [Trump’s] legacy, he’s fooling himself. Stephen Miller is worried about his own legacy,” Tillis said.

A “healthy” relationship with Trump
Still, Tillis told Karl he believes he has a “healthy relationship” with the president.

“There are aspects about this president that I admire and will always admire, but I do not admire bad advice, and I hate bad execution, and when I see it and I think it’s undermining the president of the United States’ agenda, then I’m going to call them out,” he said.

Tillis said his motivation for criticizing the administration and some of its policies are to help Republicans perform well in this year’s midterm elections.

“I’m not trying to undermine Republicans. I’m trying to undermine efforts that are going to make it very difficult for Republicans to get elected in November,” he said.

Asked by Karl why he feels liberated to speak out since announcing his retirement, Tillis had a simple answer.

“When people have said, ‘You seem a little bit more liberated.’ I said, ‘No, s—, Sherlock,'” Tillis said. “I no longer have to view things through a political lens.”

Copyright © 2026, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.