Trump's erratic behavior on border policy is reportedly based in existential political dread

Trump and Kirstjen Nielsen before the panic
(Image credit: JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images)

President Trump's "increasingly erratic behavior" on immigration policy began with a March 29 tweet in which he threatened to close the U.S. Mexico border, The Washington Post reports, and his words and actions since then have "alarmed top Republicans, business officials, and foreign leaders who fear that his emotional response might exacerbate problems at the border, harm the U.S. economy, and degrade national security."

Trump's March 29 tweet from Mar-a-Lago was followed by his announcement that he had ordered aid cut to Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala, and an April 1 phone call to Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen in London, in which a "livid" Trump berated Nielsen for being oversees during a border crisis, the Post reports. Trump was "showing signs of panic as border crossings spiked to the highest levels in more than a decade," and Nielsen cut short her trip to a cyberterrorism and cybersecurity summit in Europe to "furiously" fight for her job in Washington.

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Peter Weber, The Week US

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.