DHS secretary cuts overseas trip short to deal with Trump's threat to close border

Posted By: Staff
April 2, 2019 @ 8:54 am
ABC Politics

Alex Wong/Getty Images

Alex Wong/Getty Images(WASHINGTON) — As President Donald Trump threatens to close the U.S. border with Mexico as early as this week, Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen has cut an overseas trip short to oversee decisions on the border response and is now back in Washington, D.C., a senior DHS official tells ABC News.

Nielsen had left for the trip early Sunday and arrived back in Washington early Tuesday morning.

She will head to the border on Wednesday, the official said. The president is scheduled to make his own trip to the border in California on Friday, near where the administration says a section of Trump’s proposed border wall has been built.

Nielsen was scheduled to be in Europe all week for bilateral security meetings, representing the U.S. at a gathering of G7 interior ministers.

Despite the short trip, a source says Nielsen “had sensitive discussions on counterterrorism and cyber issues” while in the United Kingdom.

“But as Washington was asleep, Secretary Nielsen made some decisions on border response and decided she needed to oversee those personally. So we asked our Deputy to tap in and take over the trip,” the official said.