Trump threatened to deport 'millions' of immigrants 'next week.' Officials have no clue what he's talking about.

ICE agents in New York City.
(Image credit: John Moore/Getty Images)

President Trump has everyone confused.

On Monday night, Trump abruptly tweeted that "next week," Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents "will begin the process of removing the millions of illegal aliens who have illicitly found their way into the United States." But in the hours that followed that tweet, both Republican lawmakers and senior officials have told CNN they've never heard of this plan.

With his tweet, Trump was seemingly referring to a roundup across U.S. expected to launch in a few months. But ICE officials immediately told The Washington Post that "the operation was not imminent," and that "they were not aware that the president planned to divulge their enforcement plans on Twitter." A senior official later told CNN that this operation was tentatively planned for July.

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While ICE officials could draw a few inferences from Trump's tweet, Senate Majority Whip John Thune (R-S.D.) was at a total loss.

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Trump still hasn't elaborated on his Monday night threat, making it look more and more like a baseless rallying cry for his Tuesday night campaign launch.

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Kathryn Krawczyk

Kathryn is a graduate of Syracuse University, with degrees in magazine journalism and information technology, along with hours to earn another degree after working at SU's independent paper The Daily Orange. She's currently recovering from a horse addiction while living in New York City, and likes to share her extremely dry sense of humor on Twitter.