Trump Says He Won’t Deport Prince Harry: ‘He’s Got Enough Problems’
Former President Donald Trump dismissed the idea of deporting Prince Harry but didn’t hold back from taking a swipe at his wife, Meghan Markle.
The Duke of Sussex’s visa status has come under scrutiny in Washington, D.C., with the Heritage Foundation questioning whether he disclosed past illegal drug use—a factor that could have disqualified him from obtaining a U.S. visa, according to the New York Post.
Despite this, Trump told the publication on Friday that he has no plans to remove Harry from the country.
“I don’t want to do that. I’ll leave him alone,” he said of the royal, who stepped away from his duties. “He’s got enough problems with his wife. She’s terrible.”
Trump also took the chance to praise Prince William, Harry’s older brother, whom he privately met in Paris last December during the reopening ceremony of Notre Dame Cathedral, which had been devastated by a fire five years earlier.
“I think William is a great young man,” Trump remarked.
Over the years, Harry and his American wife—known for their progressive views—have openly criticized Trump. Meghan notably labeled him “divisive” and “misogynistic” before the 2020 election. Trump, in return, has been vocal about his thoughts on Harry, stating: “I think poor Harry is being led around by the nose.”
The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, referenced Harry’s memoir Spare, in which he admitted to using substances such as cocaine, cannabis, and psychedelics. The organization filed a lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security last year, demanding the release of Harry’s visa records, The Post reported.
“Anyone who applies to the United States has to be truthful on their application, and it is not clear that is the case with Prince Harry,” said Heritage’s Nile Gardiner in an interview with the London Daily Telegraph.
The group claims Harry may have received special treatment from the Biden administration following his move to California in 2020, shortly after his and Meghan’s controversial “Megxit” exit from royal duties.
While Trump seems uninterested in deporting Harry, his administration remains focused on removing others who are in the country illegally.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is projected to detain approximately one million undocumented immigrants by the end of Trump’s term—an ambitious number, though still short of his administration’s original target, according to a recent report.
This update coincides with Republican lawmakers in both chambers of Congress pushing for increased border security measures, deportations, and additional funding in an upcoming spending bill, potentially leading to a rise in ICE arrests, Just the News reported.
Until February 1, ICE had been providing daily updates on arrest figures nationwide. However, earlier this week, its X account shifted its focus to highlighting the capture of high-profile criminals rather than broad enforcement statistics.
The most recent report from the agency, dated January 31, noted 864 arrests and 621 detainers. The first such update on January 23 recorded 538 arrests, with daily figures peaking at 1,179 on January 27. Despite the change in reporting, former ICE Director Tom Homan assured that enforcement efforts remain strong.
“I think the arrest numbers I looked at, I just talked about this morning. I think the arrests are right around over 11,000 so far since day one,” Homan told reporters on Thursday.
Based on this data—excluding Thursday—ICE has been averaging about 650 arrests per day since January 20. At this pace, Trump’s administration would detain close to one million people before the end of his term.
Still, Trump has set a much larger goal, aiming to remove up to 20 times that number. Encouragingly for the administration, arrest numbers appear to have surged in the latter half of his first 10 days in office.