Trump Blindsides ICE Leaders By Withdrawing Nominee & Promising ‘Tougher Direction’

President Donald Trump. Alex Wong/Getty Images

By Davis Richardson • 04/05/19 3:30pm

President Donald Trump on Friday withdrew his nomination to lead U.S. Immigration and 

Customs Enforcement (ICE), blindsiding lawmakers and Department of 

Homeland Security (DHS) officials.

“We’re going in a little different direction. [Former nominee Ron Vitiello] is a good man, but 

we’re going in a tougher direction. We want to go in a tougher 

direction,” Trump said from the White House on Friday.

According to CNN, ICE leadership anticipated a positive outcome for Vitiello’s 

confirmation, even on Friday morning—chalking up a letter sent by the 

White House regarding its reversal as “a clerical error,” sources told 

the outlet. Despite his initial support from Trump and his career as a 

border patrol agent-turned-acting deputy commissioner of ICE, Vitiello 

came under fire by lawmakers for his controversial social media 

presence.

During his confirmation hearing, the nominee was grilled

over a 2012 tweet in which he “suggested that the Democratic Party 

should be renamed the liberalcratic party” or the “Neo-Klanist party.” 

ICE’s union also issued a warning to the Senate committee leadership 

about the social media posts and Vitiello’s reputation for retaliating 

against whistleblowers.

“This is the first time in the history of the National ICE Council that our organization has officially opposed 

the nomination of a presidentially-appointed federal official and it is a

decision we do not take lightly,” wrote National

ICE Council President Chris Crane in a letter earlier this year to 

Senate committee leadership. “Never before have we seen so many warning 

signs with respect to a nominee prior to confirmation and we believe him

to be unfit to serve as director.”

The president has not made any further announcements about a possible replacement for the role.