While answering a CNN reporter’s question, Donald Trump shared that it was his idea to send ICE agents to airports to help TSA employees during the government shutdown. He also likened his idea to the invention of the paperclip.
Trump visited Memphis on Monday, but he met with reporters before the flight, says The Mirror US. Kaitlan Collins asked the President, “Whose idea was it to put ICE in airports?”
The President was forthcoming with the answer and immediately took the credit. “Mine. That was mine,” he said. Trump then went on to explain why he thought his idea was so unique.
REPORTER: Whose idea was it to put ICE agents in the airports?@POTUS: “Mine… you know the story of the paper clip? 182 years ago, a man discovered the paper clip. It was so simple, and everybody that looked at it said, ‘Why didn’t I think of that?’ ICE was my idea.” pic.twitter.com/4P7Z7CE8yp
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) March 23, 2026
“That was like the paper clip. You know the story of the paper clip?” he asked. The President then recounted his version of events, saying, “A hundred and eighty-two years ago, a man discovered the paper clip. It was so simple. And everybody that looked at it said, ‘Why didn’t I think of that’?”
Trump took credit for the idea, but the same idea was presented by a caller to the “The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show.” A person called in and said, “I think I have a solution to the TSA problem.” She then continued, “We need to bring in ICE agents.” Travis said he thought it was a “brilliant idea.”
Trump also told Collins that the first person he called was Tom Homan, asking him what he thought about his idea. He thought it was a great idea. The President also explained why they weren’t wearing masks while assisting at the airports. He said, “Then I saw today there were some masks on. I didn’t think the masks were appropriate.”
“I put out a statement, and I asked them, ‘Would it be possible to take off the masks?’ he explained. The fact that ICE wears masks is an extremely contentious issue, and Trump didn’t want them wearing it while they were dealing with people at the airport.
He then told Collins why he thought that ICE should cover their faces under normal circumstances. “Because they should wear a mask when they’re dealing with the murderers and the thugs let into our country,” he said.
CNN’s Dana Bash asks if ICE agents are even trained for airport security. Tom Homan admits they won’t be doing actual screening, just standing at exits to “relieve” TSA. They are sending untrained agents to secure the airports. pic.twitter.com/ve0feYfnIP
— Furkan Gözükara (@FurkanGozukara) March 23, 2026
An airport crisis is looming as hundreds of TSA agents are quitting because they are not being paid. Even more are staying out of work as the financial pressure mounts. As a result, the airports were short-staffed leading to long delays.
The President’s solution was that ICE agents could help take the pressure off TSA agents by monitoring exit lanes and verifying IDs. They also maintain a sense of security at the airports. Officials say that ICE won’t do screenings like X-ray checks.
Tom Homan has said that the initiative is still a “work in progress.” He also explained that the main aim of sending ICE agents to the airports was so that they could help to ease the congestion travelers were experiencing. For now they were targeting “large airports where there’s a long wait, like three hours.”
The Border Czar explained that they wanted to be a “force multiplier.” They were out to make a rapid change at the airports. It also seems as if Homan and his team is winging it. He said that they would develop a “plan by the end of today, where we’re sending— what airports we’re starting with and where we’re sending them.”
