White House omits Trump agreeing to 'clean' DACA bill from transcript, calls it accidental


President Trump surprised White House aides when he invited the press in to watch him negotiate immigration policy with Democrats and Republicans for 55 minutes on Tuesday, and the point seemed to be "to show that he could do his job," The Washington Post reports, after a week dominated by the Michael Wolff book Fire and Fury, which suggests otherwise. Trump "demonstrated stability, although not necessarily capability," write Post reporters Ashley Parker and Philip Rucker, and he left his audience with "a cliffhanger": What is going on with immigration legislation?
At one point, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) asked Trump if he would support "a clean DACA bill now, with a commitment that we go into a comprehensive immigration reform procedure," and Trump replied, "Yeah, I would like to do that. I think a lot of people would like to see that." Senate Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), looking alarmed, jumped in to explain that a "clean" DACA bill would solve only the DREAMer issue, not border security.
By the end, Trump appeared to agree with McCarthy. "I think a clean DACA bill to me is a DACA bill, but we take care of the 800,000 people," Trump said. "But I think to me, a clean bill is a bill of DACA — we take care of them, and we also take care of security." Still, the Post notes:
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
McCarthy apparently was not the only one concerned by Trump’s seeming agreement with Feinstein. When the White House released its official transcript Tuesday afternoon, the president’s line — “Yeah, I would like to do it” — was missing. A White House official said that any omission from the transcript was unintentional and that the context of the conversation was clear. [The Washington Post]
You can read more about Trump's meeting at The Washington Post.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
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.
-
Jared and Ivanka's Albanian island
Under The Radar The deal to develop Sazan has been met with widespread opposition
-
Storm warning
Feature The U.S. is headed for an intense hurricane season. Will a shrunken FEMA and NOAA be able to respond?
-
U.S. v. Skrmetti: Did the trans rights movement overreach?
Feature The Supreme Court upholds a Tennessee law that bans transgender care for minors, dealing a blow to trans rights
-
Trump sues LA over immigration policies
Speed Read He is suing over the city's sanctuary law, claiming it prevents local law enforcement from cooperating with federal immigration authorities
-
Obama, Bush and Bono eulogize USAID on final day
Speed Read The US Agency for International Development, a humanitarian organization, has been gutted by the Trump administration
-
The last words and final moments of 40 presidents
The Explainer Some are eloquent quotes worthy of the holders of the highest office in the nation, and others... aren't
-
Senate advances GOP bill that costs more, cuts more
Speed Read The bill would make giant cuts to Medicaid and food stamps, leaving 11.8 million fewer people with health coverage
-
Canadian man dies in ICE custody
Speed Read A Canadian citizen with permanent US residency died at a federal detention center in Miami
-
GOP races to revise megabill after Senate rulings
Speed Read A Senate parliamentarian ruled that several changes to Medicaid included in Trump's "One Big Beautiful Bill" were not permissible
-
Supreme Court lets states ax Planned Parenthood funds
Speed Read The court ruled that Planned Parenthood cannot sue South Carolina over the state's effort to deny it funding
-
Trump plans Iran talks, insists nuke threat gone
Speed Read 'The war is done' and 'we destroyed the nuclear,' said President Trump