White House chief of staff John Kelly reportedly told a group of Democratic lawmakers that some of President Trump’s campaign promises on immigration, including building a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, are “uninformed.”
The Washington Post reported Wednesday that Kelly also told the lawmakers during the meeting there will be no wall on the border “that Mexico will pay for.”
Kelly all but confirmed the report during an appearance on Fox News later Wednesday.
“[Trump’s] changed his attitude toward the DACA issue and even the wall,” Kelly said, referring to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. “[Trump] has evolved in the way he’s looked at things. Campaigns and governing are two different things.”
Kelly met with House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), Rep. Judy Chu (D-Calif.), the chairwoman of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, and members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus as part of ongoing negotiations between the White House and Congress over immigration policy.
Rep. Luis Gutiérrez (D-Ill.), who was present at the meeting, later confirmed the Post report.
“I can confirm that Chief of Staff Kelly said today that the President’s campaign was not fully informed about the wall he was promising to voters,” Gutiérrez said in a statement. “Kelly went on to say that many campaigns are not fully informed about every policy and that campaigning and governing are two different things and that governing is harder. Kelly took credit for educating the President on the wall and that a concrete barrier from sea to shining sea was no longer the conception of border security barriers supported today by the White House.”
{mosads}The Post reports that two lawmakers present in the meeting took notes on the meeting, and the newspaper confirmed those notes with two other lawmakers and a senior aide present at the time.
Kelly emphasized to the group that Trump is “committed to a permanent solution to DACA,” the Obama-era program that protects thousands of immigrants who were brought to the U.S. illegally as children from being deported. He also told the lawmakers that he “ordered” the six-month extension of DACA protections.
Kelly later confirmed that last point in his interview with Fox News.
“I worked to get the six-month extension of DACA. I ordered that. I managed that. And everyone has thanked me for that,” Kelly said, according to the Post.
Kelly was also asked by one lawmaker, Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-Calif.), to explain Trump’s proposed wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.
“Certain things are said during the campaign that are uninformed,” Kelly replied, according to the Post. He reportedly told the group that “a concrete wall from sea to shining sea” wouldn’t be built, but would instead be a “physical barrier in many places.”
Kelly’s meeting with Democratic lawmakers comes as Trump blasted a bipartisan Senate immigration proposal in an interview Wednesday, calling it “horrible” on border security and “very, very weak” on reform to the legal immigration system.
“It’s the opposite of what I campaigned for,” Trump said.
A bipartisan group of senators is expected to introduce legislation on Wednesday that would pair a fix for the DACA program along with border security.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said Wednesday that no immigration bill would come to the Senate floor until Trump indicates what he supports.
Updated: 6:23 PM EST.