Trump Wields the Axe as Border Policy Falters

(Bloomberg) --

Kirstjen Nielsen’s departure as Homeland Security secretary may have been just the beginning.

Donald Trump is considering removing more top officials at the department, Justin Sink and Jennifer Jacobs report, as he purges the agency out of frustration over a spike in illegal border crossings.

The White House announced that Secret Service director Randolph Alles would leave the administration, a day after the president demanded Nielsen resign. And more changes are in the works.

The reshuffling, perceived to be the work of Trump’s freshly empowered hard-line aide Stephen Miller, has alarmed many of the White House’s Republican allies — even those who share the president’s desire to crack down on undocumented immigration.

The administration was dealt another setback yesterday when a federal judge barred it from forcing Central American asylum seekers to wait in Mexico for months or even years while their applications are being processed.

White House officials signaled they expect the dramatic turnover to produce equally dramatic results on the southern border.

But with Trump gearing up for re-election facing — by most measures — a worse situation than when he was seeking the presidency in 2016, he’s under increasing pressure to deliver on his signature campaign promise — and quickly.

Global Headlines

Hands and knees | Theresa May heads to Berlin and Paris today as part of her efforts to win a short delay to Britain’s departure from the European Union, while at home some in her Conservative Party try to throw her overboard. Any pause in Brexit will be tied to commitments from the U.K. prime minister that she — and any successor — wouldn’t try to disrupt EU business. She'll be pressing the case when she meets German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron.

Last-minute deal | The EU and China agreed on a joint statement for today’s summit in Brussels, papering over divisions on trade in a bid to present a united front to Trump, EU officials said. As Jonathan Stearns reports, diplomats reached an 11th-hour accord on the draft communique after China made concessions on wording about industrial subsidies that removed a European veto threat.

North Africa rumbles | Sudan’s military rejected the use of violence to quell the protests demanding the ouster of President Omar al-Bashir, after militias tried to storm an anti-government demonstration in the capital. It's the latest escalation of a crisis that began with nationwide protests over soaring living costs and mirrored the unrest in Algeria that forced Abdelaziz Bouteflika to end his 20-year rule last week under pressure from the military.

Saudi scrutiny | The U.S. will deny entry to 16 Saudis over “their roles” in the murder of the columnist Jamal Khashoggi, as it seeks to sustain pressure on the kingdom to provide a credible account of his death. The move — which includes a ban on a senior adviser to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman — comes at a delicate time. Last week, Saudi authorities detained several activists, writers and intellectuals who had connections to a group of women's rights activists arrested last year, including two dual U.S.-Saudi citizens.

Got Boeing's back | The Trump administration is proposing tariffs on $11 billion in imports from the EU in response to harm the U.S. says is being caused by the bloc’s subsidies to Boeing rival Airbus. The list of affected goods would include everything from jetliners and passenger helicopters to cheese, wine, ski-suits and motorcycles. The plan comes as Boeing faces questions about the safety of its 737 Max planes following two deadly crashes.

Crucial verdict | A Hong Kong court found activist Benny Tai guilty for helping to organize the Occupy protests that rocked the city in 2014, capping the authorities' efforts to punish those involved. The China-backed government's push to quash the pro-democracy movement is fueling concerns the free speech protections and independent judiciary China once promised the former British colony are slowly being eradicated.

What to Watch

• Polls have opened in Israel's election, where Benjamin Netanyahu is seeking a fifth term in office while battling corruption allegations.

• Kazakhstan’s new president called snap presidential elections today, less than a month after he replaced leader-for-life Nursultan Nazarbayev in a carefully choreographed transfer of power.

• Libyan warlord Khalifa Haftar's decision to strike Tripoli’s only functioning international airport has drawn a strong rebuke from the United Nations, which is concerned his advance on the capital threatens to spark civil war.

And finally ... The Trump administration just sent a signal that its “America First” doctrine extends to the national pastime. The government blocked an agreement that would have let Cuban baseball players come to the U.S. without having to defect. Critics say the move preserves a dangerous status quo in which elite players have to find their own way to U.S. soil, but a White House spokesman said it will prevent Havana from garnishing the wages “of hard-working athletes who simply seek to live and compete in a free society.”

--With assistance from Karen Leigh and Caroline Alexander.

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Ruth Pollard at rpollard2@bloomberg.net, Karl Maier

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