Donald Trump ‘wanted to shoot migrants at border and have moat full of snakes'

Donald Trump suggested shooting illegal immigrants in the legs to slow them down, according to a new book
REUTERS
David Gardner2 October 2019

Donald Trump suggested shooting illegal immigrants in the legs to slow them down after they crossed America’s border with Mexico, according to a new book about the president’s migration crackdown.

Mr Trump is also reported to have discussed a water-filled border moat filled with snakes or alligators and an electrified wall topped with spikes that could pierce human flesh.

The extraordinary claims are made in a new book that also alleges he ordered US immigration chiefs at a meeting in March to shut down the entire 2,000-mile border with Mexico by noon the next day.

In an excerpt from the book — Border Wars: Inside Trump’s Assault on Immigration — the New York Times today quoted the president as telling White House aides during a discussion about keeping out migrants: “You are making me look like an idiot! I ran [for the presidency] on this. It’s my issue.”

The book says Mr Trump dropped his suggestion soldiers should shoot migrants if they threw rocks after being told such a move was illegal.

“But later in a meeting, aides recalled, he suggested that they shoot migrants in the legs to slow them down. ‘That’s not allowed either’, they told him,” according to the newspaper report.

After being advised against totally shutting the border, the book by NYT journalists Michael Shear and Julie Hirschfeld Davis says Mr Trump retaliated by purging the aides who tried to keep him in check.

Among those at the meeting were said to be former Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, who was forced to resign days later, the then Border Protection chief Kevin McAleenan, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Mr Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner. The president’s advisers reportedly left the meeting in “near panic” but persuaded him not to go ahead with the border shutdown.

In another meeting with Ms Nielsen before she was asked to step down, Mr Trump allegedly told her to start turning away migrants at the border. He is quoted as saying:“Keep them all out. Every single one of them. The country is full.”

The excerpts from the book, to be published next week, came as Mr Trump escalated his attacks on the impeachment inquiry against him, accusing Democrats of staging “a coup”.

Former Ukraine envoys Kurt Volker and Marie Yovanovitch will reportedly be questioned by congressmen about allegations Mr Trump tried to pressure Ukraine to dig up dirt on Democrat presidential candidate Joe Biden.

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