Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen has resigned, President Trump tweeted Sunday.
Behind the scenes: A source close to DHS told Axios that Nielsen would be having a showdown with the president tonight.
- "Frustrations were building on both sides," the source said. "She was undercut at every turn. She's done everything she can do. The White House is eating their own."
CBS' Paula Reid reported earlier Sunday that Nielsen is "expected to resign" in her meeting with Trump tonight, but Trump's ambiguous wording reflects the predictably messy end to this relationship, which was formalized in a meeting in the White House residence.
- It may well be that Nielsen was the one who formally resigned — but the formalities don't really matter. Trump has wanted Nielsen gone for months because he believes she's "weak" on immigration, per multiple sources with direct knowledge of the president's thinking.
The big picture: It's been a tortured relationship from the beginning, with Trump blaming Nielsen for every problem at the southern border and for the recent spike in families coming from Northern Triangle countries. Trump has long felt that Nielsen isn't "tough enough" when it comes to defending the border and kicking illegal immigrants out of the U.S., according to sources who've discussed the subject with the president.
During her tenure, Nielsen was put in the position of having to defend the Trump administration's zero tolerance policy that resulted in thousands of migrant children being separated from their families, for which she was often maligned in the media and by Democratic lawmakers.
- In January, Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) formally requested that the FBI investigate whether Nielsen lied under oath when she told Congress in December 2018, "We've never had a policy for family separation."
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