White House chief of staff John Kelly and national security adviser John Bolton got into a heated, profanity-laced shouting match outside the Oval Office on Thursday, according to multiple reports.
CNN reported that the two men clashed over immigration policy in the wake of a government report that found a record number of migrant families illegally crossed the U.S. border in September.
Bloomberg reported that the incident led some White House aides to wonder whether one of the senior officials might immediately resign in anger.
{mosads}Neither individual is expected to resign, however, and President Trump is aware of the dispute, Bloomberg added.
Trump later told CNN, “That I have not heard about,” regarding the dispute.
Trump was present for the beginning of the clash, sources told CNN.
In a statement later Thursday, the White House did not deny the shouting match occurred.
“While we are passionate about solving the issue of illegal immigration, we are not angry at one another. However, we are furious at the failure of Congressional Democrats to help us address this growing crisis,” White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said in the statement.
The incident Thursday underscored continued reports portraying a White House rife with turmoil and infighting.
Kelly has been subject to numerous reports that indicate his relationship with Trump has frayed, though he has remained on the job for more than 14 months and the president recently invited a reporter into the Oval Office to discuss his support for his chief of staff.
Bolton is relatively new within the administration, having taken over as national security adviser in April.
The Department of Homeland Security data published earlier this week showed 16,658 family members were arrested by Border Patrol agents last month. It was the highest one-month total on record and an 80 percent increase from July.
The Trump administration has pushed immigration enforcement as a key issue, and stirred controversy when it initiated a “zero tolerance” policy earlier this year that led to the separation of thousands of migrant families at the border.
In an interview broadcast Sunday, Trump refused to rule out re-instituting the practice of family separation.
In recent days, the president has turned his attention to a so-called “caravan” of migrants making their way toward Mexico and the U.S. from Central America. The group is said to have swelled to around 4,000, with many of its members seeking asylum.
Trump has threatened to cut off aid to Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala if those countries do not prevent their citizens from heading to the U.S., and has suggested he may deploy the U.S. military to the southern border to stop migrants from entering.
— Jordan Fabian contributed reporting. Updated 6:10 p.m.