Trump may deploy National Guard to assist TSA amid shutdown

“I want to thank ICE, because they stepped in so, so strongly. They’ll do great,” Trump told reporters before departing Palm Beach, Florida, for Memphis, Tennessee. “And if that’s not enough, I’ll bring in the National Guard. We’re not going to have the Democrats destroy our country.”

Hundreds of TSA officials have quit or not shown up for work as Republicans and Democrats continue their standoff over funding the Department of Homeland Security, causing air travelers to spend hours waiting to make it through airport security.

Over the weekend, Trump announced plans to send ICE officers to assist TSA employees in hopes of driving down those wait times. ICE employees are still getting paid throughout the shutdown, as the president’s spending package from last year, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, included more than $75 billion in direct funding for the agency.

Earlier Monday morning, Trump posted on social media that he would request ICE officers not wear face masks while assisting TSA employees.

“I am a BIG proponent of ICE wearing masks as they search for, and are forced to deal with, hardened criminals, many of whom were let into our Country by Sleepy Joe Biden and his wonderful ‘Border Czar,’ Kamala [Harris],” he wrote on Truth Social. “I would greatly appreciate, however, NO MASKS, when helping our Country out of the Democrat caused MESS at the airports.”

WHITE HOUSE FLOATS REQUIRING ICE OFFICERS TO SELF-IDENTIFY IN TALKS WITH DEMOCRATS TO REOPEN DHS

Last week, the White House sent a letter to congressional lawmakers laying out a series of significant reforms regarding the president’s deportation strategy.

Though those proposals included requiring immigration officers to both wear self-identifying information and verbally identify which agency they work for while conducting fieldwork, the White House declined to ban officers from wearing face masks as requested by Democrats.