House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Tuesday questioned who is “poisoning” President Donald Trump’s mind when it comes to immigration policy, calling his recent threat to shut down the U.S.-Mexico border and his move to cut off aid to Northern Triangle countries in Central America “one of his worst ideas.”
“Stiff competition, mind you, this is one of his worst ideas,” Pelosi (D-Calif.) said of Trump’s decision to end the assistance funding to Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador. “It could cover so much territory, it’s hard to say worst. This is not a good idea.”
Pelosi, speaking at a POLITICO Playbook interview Tuesday morning, then broadened her critique.
“Shutting down the border and cutting off the money are probably in competition for two of his worst ideas,” she said, though she quickly added: “Let’s not forget our friend the wall.”
The speaker argued that cutting off the funding, which is aimed at creating stability in the so-called “Northern Triangle” nations, was counter-productive to stemming the surge of asylum-seeking migrants from those countries showing up at the U.S.-Mexico border.
Pelosi wondered aloud where the president was getting his ideas from, noting that she didn’t think “advising” was the appropriate term to use.
“I don’t know who is advising him there, if advising is even a word, I don’t know who’s poisoning his mind on some of these subjects,” she said. Pelosi predicted that congressional appropriators ultimately wouldn’t allow Trump’s proposed funding cuts to stand, but also pushed for increasing assistance aid to the so-called Northern Triangle countries.
“I think that we should even do more, and I think that we should make sure the resources are used for the purpose that they are designed for — and that is to improve the safety and quality of life of people so they do not feel the urgency to go endanger their families, to travel so far to take the chance for seeking asylum,” Pelosi said.