Former acting Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director Ron Vitiello broke his silence on President Trump pulling his nomination to lead ICE permanently, during an interview with CNN Wednesday evening.
Vitiello, who was picked to head the agency following Thomas Homan’s retirement, waited seven months for the Senate to move on his nomination when they approved him in a committee vote in March. Trump then withdrew the nomination in early April, saying, “Ron is a good man, but we’re going in a tougher direction.”
The former acting ICE director addressed the president’s decision in the interview with CNN’s Wolf Blitzer.
“In April, you were supposed to travel with the president to the southern border, but instead, he announced he was pulling your nomination. First of all, how did you find out about that?” Blitzer asked.
“There were — my staff had heard rumors of — we had gotten contact from Congress about the nomination,” Vitiello admitted.
Vitiello then said he did not speak to the president when his name was withdrawn, but they did converse when he agreed to take the position.
“He wanted to assure me that he was going to submit my nomination, and we talked about how difficult the work would be,” Vitiello stated.
Blitzer followed up, “But in explaining why he was pulling your nomination, he said he wanted to go in a ‘tougher direction.’ How did he explain that to you?”
“Well, he also said on camera I was a good guy, so I chose to focus on the glass half-full,” Vitiello responded.
“I have no idea. I don’t know what he knows. I don’t know what he was told about my conduct. I was trying to do two things simultaneously: was trying to operate and run the agency while seeking, getting the confirmation for the nomination,” he added, after Blitzer asked him what the president was referring to in the explanation for his withdrawal.
“Has he chosen, as far as you know — and you spent a lot of time in that position — has he chosen someone with tougher immigration positions?” Blitzer asked, to which Vitiello replied that he had “no idea.”
