President Donald Trump sparred with a Newsmax reporter during a tense exchange in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Monday, as his administration moved ahead with plans to deploy Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to U.S. airports amid an ongoing government funding standoff.
Speaking to reporters on the airport tarmac, Trump grew visibly irritated when Newsmax correspondent Mike Carter pressed him on Iran’s claims.
Carter questioned whether the administration was misrepresenting diplomatic efforts to end the war. Trump dismissed the assertion, suggesting Iran needed “better public relations people.”
The exchange escalated when Carter attempted to ask a follow-up question about the deployment of ICE agents at airports.
Trump interrupted to ask who he worked for. After Carter identified himself as a Newsmax reporter, Trump criticized him directly.
“You’re not doing a very good job,” Trump said.
Carter continued trying to ask his question, but Trump declined to engage. He instead called on a CNN reporter.
“You’re not doing a good job, did you hear me?” Trump said, “Can you believe it? I’m taking CNN over Newsmax.”
Trump later returned to the criticism while discussing Joe Kent, the former director of the National Counterterrorism Center, who recently resigned and publicly rebuked the administration’s handling of Iran.
Trump suggested Kent was seeking attention and said he may have aligned himself with CNN “or maybe… your division of Newsmax,” again referencing Carter.
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The confrontation came as the administration pushes forward with a plan to deploy ICE agents to assist at airports nationwide.
Border policy adviser Tom Homan confirmed Sunday that agents would begin appearing at select airports starting Monday.
Officials are coordinating with the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) to determine how ICE personnel can be used to ease congestion, particularly at airports experiencing long wait times.
“We’ll have a plan by the end of today,” Homan said during an interview on CNN.
He said agents could be reassigned to support certain operational roles while TSA officers focus on specialized screening tasks.
In addition to assisting with airport operations, ICE agents will continue conducting immigration enforcement activities.
Homan said those duties are already part of their routine responsibilities.
The move follows a warning from Trump over the weekend. He said ICE would be deployed if congressional Democrats did not approve funding for the entire Department of Homeland Security instead of just the TSA, as they have proposed amid the ongoing fight over ICE and Border Patrol abuses in this Trump term.
The funding dispute has contributed to TSA staffing shortages as workers miss paychecks, ICE is separately funded through the end of the year, leading to delays at several major airports.
The plan has drawn criticism from Democratic leaders.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said deploying ICE agents in airports raises safety concerns.
He argued the agency is not trained for such roles in high-traffic, sensitive environments.
“The last thing that the American people need is for untrained ICE agents to be deployed at airports all across the country, potentially to brutalize or in some instances kill them,” Jeffries said.
The developments highlight mounting tensions on multiple fronts for the administration.
Those include foreign policy disputes, domestic immigration enforcement, and an increasingly strained relationship with members of the press, including outlets that have traditionally been supportive.
