President Donald Trump interrupted a press conference outside the White House to interrogate a group of construction workers behind him about whether “any illegal immigrants” were among them.
Asked about his deportation effort, Trump said, “We‘re taking them out by the thousands. Murderers, drug dealers, people that are mentally insane, from insane asylums.”
Then he turned to the several hard hat-wearing construction workers behind him, who were there to install the president’s new White House flagpoles—and, apparently, feature in his presser.
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“Do we have anybody here who’s a member of—no, I don’t think so. You’ve known these people for a long time?” he asked. “Any illegal immigrants?”
The men, stone-faced, shook their heads.
“If there were, we’ll find out,” Trump said, prompting nervous laughter from the men. “Your whole life will be destroyed because of this press conference. They‘ll destroy these people. I didn‘t want to tell them that before they stood up.”
“Don’t worry, I think you’re gonna be OK,” Trump added.
Since returning to office, Trump has carried out a large-scale effort to deport undocumented immigrants. ICE raids to that effect have sparked protests across the country, including the demonstrations in Los Angeles that raged over the last two weeks.
Trump conceded earlier this month that his approach to deportation was hurting the agriculture and hospitality industries by taking away their workers. A senior ICE official later told agents to hold back raids on farms and hotels.
Just days later, however, the Department of Homeland Security reversed the new policy, with an official saying that “worksite enforcement operations are really tip of the spear to getting these criminal, legal aliens out of our country.”
Asked about the reversal at the flagpole press conference, the president said, “We have to take care of our farmers. We have to take care of the people that run leisure, hotels... Most importantly we have to get the criminals out of our country.”
Trump also touted data showing that ICE did not release any undocumented immigrants into the U.S. during the month of May.
“We had zero. Did you see that, everybody? Zero,” he said. “Now, we have let a lot of people in, but they came in legally. They actually have to take a little test, have to say, ‘I love America.’ You know, minor things like that.”
The process of becoming an American citizen—which appeared to be what the president was referring to—requires a person to pledge allegiance to the U.S. but not declare love.
After the presser, Trump posed for photos with the construction crew and looked on as they erected the first of two 100-foot flagpoles that will stand on the White House’s North and South lawns.
“It is a GIFT from me of something which was always missing from this magnificent place,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
