White House Chief of Staff John Kelly (left) talks with White House national security adviser John Bolton in the Oval Office on Oct. 10. | Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP Photo White House Tensions between Kelly and Bolton erupt in shouting match outside Oval Office The White House chief of staff and national security adviser shouted at each other over southern border crossings, but have a tense history.

Long-simmering tension between White House chief of staff John Kelly and national security adviser John Bolton boiled over on Thursday, three administration officials confirmed, in a heated shouting match outside the Oval Office over a recent surge in southern border crossings.

Trump has been fuming in public and private over the mounting border crisis, worrying about the potential political fallout just weeks before the midterms, according to White House aides. The president threatened on Thursday to order the military to shut down the Southern border if Latin American countries don’t take new steps to slow the flow of migrants.


Bolton and Kelly sparred over how to respond to the migrant surge, with Bolton favoring Trump’s aggressive approach and Kelly urging caution. The fight reached a fever pitch when Bolton criticized Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, arguing that Nielsen, who earlier served as Kelly’s deputy at the White House, hasn’t done enough to manage the rapid increase in migrants, two of the administration officials said. That comment infuriated Kelly, a retired Marine general who remains a close ally of Nielsen’s.

The fight was so intense that it startled aides working in a West Wing long inured to internal chaos. One of the administration officials who described the incident wondered aloud whether Kelly or Nielsen might step down in the coming days, reigniting ever-present speculation in Washington about the future of the chief of staff.

Kelly has said publicly that he plans to stay at the White House through the 2020 election, but few people close to Trump expect him to make it that long. Still, the White House maintained that Kelly has no plans to resign.

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Nielsen, for her part, has weathered frequent criticism from Trump, who drafted a resignation letter and nearly quit after the president berated her during a Cabinet meeting in May over what he called weak border enforcement.

The recent migrant surge has infuriated the president and the issue has been a dominant topic of debate in the West Wing in recent days. Trump is deeply conscious of the political implications of the issue, and he has sought to blame Democrats for not doing enough to improve border security.

“The assault on our country at our Southern Border, including the Criminal elements and DRUGS pouring in, is far more important to me, as President, than Trade or the USMCA,” Trump tweeted on Thursday. “Hopefully Mexico will stop this onslaught at their Northern Border. All Democrats fault for weak laws!”

Two White House aides sought to downplay the clash between the two aides, insisting it has been overblown in early media coverage. One former White House official noted Kelly’s penchant for cursing. “Any heated exchange with Kelly is expletive-laden,” the former official said. “That’s a Monday.”

On Thursday evening, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said in a statement: “While we are passionate about solving the issue of illegal immigration, we are not angry at one another ... However, we are furious at the failure of Congressional Democrats to help us address this growing crisis.”

Bolton and Kelly have never had a particularly close relationship. Kelly advised Trump against hiring Bolton as national security adviser, according to a senior administration official.

And even before Trump tapped Bolton for the top national security job, Kelly limited the access Bolton had enjoyed to the Oval Office as an outside presidential adviser.