Washington (CNN) President Donald Trump said Friday that his administration is "strongly looking at" the possibility of releasing immigrants into so-called sanctuary cities in part to retaliate against Democrats, undercutting earlier denials from his own administration officials.

"In California, the governor wants to have a lot of people coming in, refugees coming in, a lot of sanctuary cities, so we'll give them to the sanctuary cities maybe to take care of if it's that the way we want it," he said during an event at the White House.

Earlier in the day, Trump tweeted, "Due to the fact that Democrats are unwilling to change our very dangerous immigration laws, we are indeed, as reported, giving strong considerations to placing Illegal Immigrants in Sanctuary Cities only." He added: "The Radical Left always seems to have an Open Borders, Open Arms policy -- so this should make them very happy!"

The President's remarks come after the White House and Department of Homeland Security said they were no longer pursuing the suggestion to have DHS release immigrants detained at the southern border into sanctuary cities in part to retaliate against Democrats who oppose Trump's plans for a border wall.

"The idea was briefly and informally raised and quickly rejected," a White House official told CNN Friday "No one at ICE was pressured by anyone at any time."

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