President Trump has signed an executive order intended to end the child migration crisis he created, only five days after telling Fox News that he was powerless to use an executive order to fix it.
The bottom line: Despite Trump's deflections — that his administration was simply enforcing existing law, or that any change would have to be enacted by Congress — by signing this executive order, Trump is ending a crisis created entirely by his own administration.
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Some conservative groups backing the Trump administration's "zero tolerance" approach to illegal immigration maintain that family separation is necessary to enforce U.S. immigration laws, and feel the media reports surrounding the issue are blown out of proportion.
The big picture: The policy of detaining minors separately from adults at the border has sparked national outrage, with members of both parties urging an end to the practice. Facing pressure, President Trump signed an executive order Wednesday intended to keep families together, but maintained that he is committed to continuing the zero-tolerance policy. The administration and its supporters want to make sure this doesn't lead to families being caught and released in the U.S., which could become an incentive for them to cross the border together.
A member of the Norwegian Nobel Committee is condemning President Trump for his administration's "zero-tolerance" immigration policy that has led to the separation of migrant families, saying that the president is "no longer the moral leader of his country or the world," reports the Hill.
Why it matters: Trump was nominated by two members of Norway’s governing Progress Party on June 13, citing his achievement in reaching an agreement toward denuclearization of North Korea. But this member's recent comments reveal that not everyone on the committee is supportive of what Trump is doing.
President Trump signed an executive order Wednesday afternoon that instructs the Justice Department to appeal a 2015 court ruling in order to allow family migrants to be detained together until deported or granted asylum — but it doesn't change much right now.
Big picture: Nothing will changeunless the Flores Agreement ruling is actually modified. As of right now, families are only permitted to be held in detention together for up to 20 days, Gene Hamilton, counselor to the Attorney General, told reporters on a phone call shortly after the signing. It is unclear whether DHS will immediately begin detaining families together for at least those 20 days.
Woody Johnson, U.S. Ambassador to the U.K. and owner of the New York Jets, told Sky News Wednesday that President Trump is scheduled to meet Queen Elizabeth next month at Windsor Castle during his work visit to England.
Why it matters: The visit, slated for July 13, would mark Trump's first to the country since he took office, where he's also scheduled to meet with Prime Minster Theresa May. Trump was initially slated to visit the U.K. in February of this year, but he cancelled, citing complaints with the location of the new U.S. embassy.
President Trump signed an executive order Wednesday intended to end his administration’s policy of separating migrant children from their families at the border, stating that he "wants to keep families together" but also enforce the zero-tolerance policy that created this crisis.
"I feel very strongly about it. I think anybody with a heart would feel very strongly about it. We don’t like to see families separated. At the same time we don’t want people coming into our country illegally. This takes care of the problem.”
American Airlines, United Airlines, and Frontier Airlines have cautioned the Trump administration against using their planes to transport immigrant children separated from their families, repudiating Trump’s controversial “zero-tolerance” policy that has triggered widespread outrage.
The backdrop: The airlines’ requests come as Trump is expected to sign an executive order that would end his administration's family separation policy.
Between the lines: Cohen is facing a swirl of legal questions surrounding both payments to Stormy Daniels and ties between Trump associates and Russia, but the investigations weren't the only reason Cohen cited in stepping down. "As the son of a Polish holocaust survivor, the images and sounds of this family separation policy is heart wrenching,” Cohen wrote in an email to RNC chair Ronna McDaniel, per ABC. “While I strongly support measures that will secure our porous borders, children should never be used as bargaining chips."
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President Trump told the White House pool Wednesday that he will be "signing something in a little while" on immigration, adding that he wants "to keep families together."
Why it matters: Trump met with Republican lawmakers on Capitol Hill last night to address the mounting pressure on his administration to change its policy of separating migrant children from their families at the border. Trump has previously signaled that he wants more comprehensive reform rather than a separate measure.
President Trump’s former campaign manager Corey Lewandoski defended his mocking response of "womp, womp" during a Fox News appearance after Democratic strategist Zac Petkanas told a story about an immigrant child with Down Syndrome who was separated from her mother at the border.
While most of the Big Tech companies or their CEOs have spoken out against the Trump administration's family separation policy, there are some notable exceptions: Oracle, which has been close to the administration and does a tremendous amount of government business, hasn't condemned the practice.
Why it matters: Some industry leaders find themselves caught between outraged employees and customers and longstanding business relationships with government.
President Trump is taking a hands-on approach to shaping the Republican Party by continuing to intervene in primaries.
Driving the news: He's holding a campaign rally in Minnesota's 8th district tonight, home of what's considered to be one of the most competitive House races in the country. And on Monday he's expected to rally for the South Carolina governor one day before the GOP runoff election, per NYT.
British Prime Minister Theresa May criticized the Trump administration's "zero tolerance" immigration policy and the separation of migrant children from their parents as "wrong" during Prime Minister's Questions on Wednesday, adding that "the pictures of children being held in what appear to be cages are deeply disturbing."
Why it matters: The United Kingdom is one of the United States' closest allies, and President Trump is set to make his first visit to the country as president next month. His plans to visit have already been fraught with controversy amid the threat of protests — and the immigration issue is sure to add fuel to the fire.
The big picture: The pope blamed populists for "creating psychosis" on the issue of immigration and told Reuters that he agrees with American Catholic bishops who have called the Trump administration's policy "contrary to our Catholic values" and "immoral." It's the first time the pontiff has explicitly addressed the policy after seemingly hinting at it in a tweet last week.
"Decades after the nation's child welfare system ended the use of orphanages over concerns about the lasting trauma to children, the administration is standing up new institutions to hold Central American toddlers that the government separated from their parents," AP's Garance Burke and Martha Mendoza report.
The big picture: "Trump administration officials have been sending babies and other young children forcibly separated from their parents at the U.S.-Mexico border to at least three 'tender age' shelters in South Texas."
After leaving the Capitol, President Trump spoke for 40 minutes last night to a dinner for supporters of his allied fundraising group, America First, at Trump International Hotel.
Trump, letting loose, discussing his decision to move the U.S. embassy in Israel to Jerusalem: "They told me it’d cost $1 billion" to build an embassy in Jerusalem. “I’m about to sign it — Donald J. — then said: 'This is way too expensive; not a Trump deal.' I call David Friedman [his ambassador to Israel]. He says, ... 'I can do it for $180,000.' I said, 'David' — I’ve never said this — 'you’re making me look cheap. Get the good marble! Spend $400,000.'"
Speaking to House Republicans at the Capitol last evening, President Trump admitted the political pressure over family separations at the border is growing. But a top aide said Trump "doesn't want to look weak" by backing down.
What we're hearing: Trump told members that his daughter Ivanka Trump had talked to him about the images of children, and told him what a problem they are, Axios' Caitlin Owens reports. But Trump left any solution up to Congress.
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President Trump's border crisis is only the latest example of the administration enacting a policy with drastic implications and telling Congress to fix it. The problem is that the strategy hasn't worked in the past, with negotiations going down in partisan flames.
Why it matters: If Congress fails yet again to find a legislative solution to a problem thrust upon it by the White House, this time it means that family separation at the border will continue until Trump caves — which is far from a fail-safe option.
Babies and toddlers who have been separated from their parents at the U.S.-Mexico border are being housed in at least three "tender age" shelters in Southern Texas, the AP's Garance Burke and Martha Mendoza report, with a fourth shelter expected to open in Houston soon.
Behind the scenes: "Lawyers and medical providers who have visited the Rio Grande Valley shelters described play rooms of crying preschool-age children in crisis," Burke and Mendoza write.
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