 ". File image/Reuters")
US President Donald Trump on Tuesday presented his administration’s one-year report card and, in a rare submission, said that federal agents “make mistakes sometimes” in enforcing his immigration crackdown.
“ICE is going to be too rough with somebody, or, you know, they’re dealing with rough people,” Trump said as he gave a two-hour-long presser on the first anniversary of his inauguration.
“They’re going to make some mistakes sometimes. It can happen. We feel terribly,” he added. The president’s comments come amid a widespread immigration crackdown across the US that has led to violent protests.
Making a rare appearance in the briefing room on his first anniversary in office, President Trump voiced frustration that public attention has centred on immigration enforcement clashes rather than his administration’s allegations of large-scale government fraud within Minnesota’s Somali American community.
However, his admission on the conduct of ICE agents was short-lived as he quickly lamented that the Department of Homeland Security and ICE weren’t getting enough support, adding that they needed to talk more about the “murderers and other criminals that they are capturing.”
‘Renee’s death a tragedy’
The president also appeared to have backtracked from his previous statement on Renee Nicole Good, the woman who was killed by ICE agents in Minnesota earlier this month.
He said, “I felt horribly when I was told that the young woman, who was — had the tragedy. “It’s a tragedy. It’s a horrible thing. Everybody would say it. ICE would say the same thing.”
Earlier, Trump told the New York Times that Good “behaved horribly”, adding, “And then she ran him over. She didn’t try to run him over. She ran him over.”
Quick Reads
View All‘We’re doing a good job’
Opening his first-anniversary briefing, President Trump argued that his economic ‘accomplishments’ have been overlooked, a claim that stands in stark contrast to recent polling showing a sharp decline in public confidence in his financial leadership.”
“Maybe I have bad public relations people. I think we’re doing a much better job than we’re able to promote. We’re not promoting. … It’s one of the reasons I’m doing this news conference,” Trump said.
While citing economic data to claim Americans are thriving under his watch, Trump insisted he is not repeating the mistake of his predecessor, Joe Biden, whom he accused of touting high-level gains while voters were still struggling with the daily cost of living.