President Donald Trump’s head-scratching idea to deploy ICE agents to a handful of security-strapped airports appears to have come from an unlikely source.
Trump’s abrupt order came shortly after the right-wing radio host Clay Travis shared the idea—originally from one of his show’s callers, “Linda from Arizona”—on one of the president’s favorite Fox News shows.
The connection, first reported by CNN’s Brian Stelter, began with Linda’s call to The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show on Friday.
“I think I have a solution to the TSA problem,” Linda told Travis, referring to the hours-long security wait times brought on by TSA agents not being paid. “We need to bring in ICE agents.”
Travis reportedly responded, “It’s kind of a brilliant idea.”
From there, the 46-year-old radio host took Linda’s pitch to Fox News, where he repeated it to Charlie Hurt, who was filling in on Jesse Watters Primetime—a de facto megaphone to the Oval Office.
Travis told Hurt about a “great call” he received earlier in the day.
“What if President Trump announced that ICE agents were now going to be supplementing TSA agents inside all of the airports,” he said, referencing Linda’s idea. “The ICE agents are still being paid. How quickly would Democrats panic if he said, ‘Hey, we’re going to put some ICE agents in line with the TSA help to expedite everybody and, oh, by the way, if we think you might be an illegal when you’re coming through to try to get on an airplane, we’re going to go ahead and arrest you at the airport. too.’”
He added, “I think that might solve things in a hurry.”
Lo and behold, Trump announced his intentions to deploy ICE—described as his “personal police force” by critics like California Gov. Gavin Newsom—into airports at 8 a.m. the following morning, blindsiding those in his own administration, who gave conflicting accounts of what ICE’s job would actually be.
Travis quickly claimed credit for getting Linda’s message to the president.
“Way to go, Linda,” his show posted to Facebook on Saturday, along with audio of her initial call.
The White House has not confirmed where Trump got the idea to deploy ICE agents to 13 airports across the country, including New York’s big three and seemingly random smaller airports, like Pittsburgh International Airport and Southwest Florida International Airport.
However, the 79-year-old president claimed the idea as his own during a press gaggle on Monday.
Asked by a reporter whose idea the deployment was, Trump responded, “Mine.”
He continued, “That was mine. That was like the paperclip. You know the story of the paperclip—182 years ago, a man discovered the paperclip. It was so simple, and everybody that looked at it said, ‘Why didn’t I think of that?’ ICE was my idea. I called, first person I called was Tom Homan. I said, ‘What do you think?’ He said, ‘I think it’s great.’”
ICE agents reported for duty in American airports on Monday morning. In a post shortly after they arrived, Trump asked agents not to conceal their identities with masks like they typically do when roaming the streets. Reached by email, the White House did not address why Trump feels masks are appropriate everywhere outside airports but not inside them.
Photos from Monday morning show that ICE agents are not helping screen passengers—the main thing holding up security lines for three-plus hours in places like Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport—but are instead monitoring passengers as they work their way through security. Most photos showed them maskless, complying with Trump’s request.
