White House chief of staff John Kelly conceded to Democratic lawmakers Wednesday that some of the pledges that Donald Trump made during the campaign _ including the promise that Mexico would pay for a border wall _ were "uninformed," according to a report.
"Certain things are said during the campaign that are uninformed," Kelly told a number of Democrats he met with Wednesday afternoon, including Maryland Rep. Steny Hoyer and California Reps. Judy Chu and Lucille Roybal-Allard, The Washington Post reported.
"One thing is to campaign, another thing is to govern. It's really hard," Kelly continued, adding that there will be no wall "that Mexico will pay for," attendees said.
The chief of staff also acknowledged that "a concrete wall from sea to shining sea" won't happen, instead asserting that the Trump administration is envisioning "a physical barrier in many places" on the border between the U.S. and Mexico. Kelly apparently made a point to use the word "barrier" over "wall" during the meeting, sources said.
Those comments put Kelly at odds with the president, who has maintained over Twitter that the U.S. "needs" a border wall with Mexico. During the campaign, Trump insisted that Mexico would pay for construction of the wall but, after months of stern refusal from Mexican leaders, the White House began lobbying Congress to earmark several billion dollars of the national budget for a wall.
One of Trump's main pushing points has been that a wall would supposedly quell the stream of illegal drugs spilling in from the southern neighbor.
Kelly refuted that assessment as well, telling meeting attendees that a wall would not do much to stop illegal drugs from getting into the country since drug cartels are made up of "very smart and good businessmen" who "will always find a way to get their drugs in so long as there's demand in the U.S." The implication that drug cartels are made up of "smart and good businessmen" apparently shocked several of the Democrats in attendance, sources said.
Kelly also took credit for steering Trump in a more moderate direction during the sit-down, which was reportedly called at the urging of House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., as the deadline for government funding creeps closer.
Democrats have insinuated that they are prepared to force a government shutdown if Republicans do not extend the Obama-era Deferred Action Childhood Arrivals program, which protects some 700,000 immigrants who entered the country illegally as children. The government will run out of cash if Congress can't agree on a spending bill by midnight on Friday.
Kelly insinuated that he's to thank for the fact that Trump extended DACA for six months in September, as opposed to ending it right away.
"I worked to get the six-month extension of DACA," Kelly told attendees. "I ordered that. I managed that. And everyone has thanked me for that."
