Trump was speaking to a crowd at a rally in Las Vegas
President Donald Trump revealed on Saturday that he’s mulling over a plan to redeploy nearly 90,000 newly hired Internal Revenue Service agents to secure the southern border.
This announcement comes just days after he issued an indefinite hiring freeze on the IRS, according to the New York Post.
Trump was speaking to a crowd at a rally held at the Circa Resort & Casino in Las Vegas when he floated the idea of either firing the IRS employees or assigning them to border security duties.
These positions were funded by $72 billion allocated to the IRS under the Inflation Reduction Act.
Trump said: “They hired, or tried to hire, 88,000 workers to go after you and we’re in the process of developing a plan to either terminate all of them, or maybe we’ll move them to the border.
“I think we’re going to move them to the border where they are allowed to carry guns. You know, they’re so strong on guns. But these people are allowed to carry guns. So we will probably move them to the border.”
Trump’s first day in office was kicked off with a series of executive orders, including a federal hiring freeze.
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This freeze exempts posts related to national security, public safety, and military roles. However, the freeze will affect all federal agencies for the next 90 days, except the IRS.
Trump announced that new IRS hiring will remain halted until his administration and the newly established Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) determine when additional staffing is necessary for the national interest.
Trump also reiterated his long-standing threats to impose steep tariffs on countries that fail to align with his immigration policies.
He singled out Mexico and Canada, warning of a 25% tariff starting February 1.
In his inaugural address on Monday, Trump heralded the dawn of what he called the ‘golden age’ for America, promising trade reforms aimed at replacing tax revenue with tariffs.