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Kelly, Bolton got into 'intense' immigration argument at the White House, officials say

WASHINGTON - Two of the president's closest advisers got into an intense shouting match Thursday at the White House over immigration policies, two officials said. 

Bloomberg and CNN first reported the heated exchange between Chief of Staff John Kelly and National Security Adviser John Bolton. 

The argument was fixated on a surge in border crossings. Bolton reportedly criticized the performance of DHS and Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, and Kelly took exception. 

Earlier in the day the president blasted a caravan of Honduran migrants trekking to the border to apply for asylum in the U.S.

Some within the White House have criticized Nielsen, a Kelly ally, for not doing more to secure the U.S. border with Mexico.

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White House officials tried to push back after reports surfaced of the heated fight. 

"While we are passionate about solving the issue of illegal immigration, we are not angry at one another,” White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said in a statement Thursday. “However, we are furious at the failure of Congressional Democrats to help us address this growing crisis.”

Trump, while on his way to a rally in Montana, said he had "not heard about" the incident. 

Earlier Thursday, the president was fuming about the Hondurans, who are fleeing north from the poverty and violence, and threatened to completely shut down the border if the group wasn't stopped. 

"I must, in the strongest of terms, ask Mexico to stop this onslaught - and if unable to do so I will call up the U.S. Military and CLOSE OUR SOUTHERN BORDER!" Trump posted on Twitter. 

Already, President Donald Trump had threatened to halt all aid going to Honduras and neighboring countries, such as Guatemala and El Salvador, where the migrants have passed through. 

 

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