CNN report traces Trump’s airport federal agent idea to Fox News radio host

Today, videos and images of ICE agents at airports are popping up all over the internet, the result of President Donald Trump’s promise to send federal immigration agents to support security efforts. With TSA agents working without pay until Congress agrees on a funding bill, many are calling in sick or quitting altogether, causing security wait times as long as four hours at some airports.

While debates are raging as to the value of Trump’s decision, it seems we may know where he got the controversial idea in the first place: Fox News.

According to the Facebook page of the Fox radio show The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show, it seems to have originated when “Linda from Arizona” called in during a discussion about the congressional standoff over funding the Department of Homeland Security.

“I think I have a solution to the TSA problem,” said Linda. “We need to bring in ICE agents. What we need to do is we need to supplement where we’re missing out on TSA agents.”

“It’s kind of a brilliant idea,” mused co-host Clay Travis.

The radio program aired Friday, then later in the evening, Travis went on the Fox show Jesse Waters Primetime — of which it is known Trump is a frequent viewer — and pitched the idea himself: “What if President Trump announced that ICE agents were now going to be supplementing TSA agents inside all of the airports?”

This idea caught on across conservative social media, and then Saturday afternoon, Trump announced the plan. Two days later, when asked where the idea came from, the president took credit, likening it to the invention of the paperclip, and declaring, “Mine. That was mine. It was so simple, and everybody that looked at it thought, ‘Why didn’t I think of that?’ ICE was my idea.”

While CNN notes that there is no direct proof that Trump lifted it from Fox, he does have a well-documented track record of responding to Fox segments.

After Trump’s announcement, Fox featured a TSA union leader Johnny Jones, who was asked what ICE agents could do to help. Not much, said an apprehensive Jones, explaining that TSA certification usually takes 5-6 months.

“I couldn’t imagine what functions they’re going to do other than just kind of stand outside the checkpoint or maybe sit on the exit lane,” he said. “I don’t know what kind of interaction this is going to cause.”