(CNN) — President Trump once suggested shooting migrants in the legs after they crossed the southern border, according to the New York Times.
The paper reported Tuesday that the president made the suggestion during a March meeting with senior staff members.
In it, the Times said President Trump called for a shut down of the entire U.S.-Mexico border.
Citing interviews with more than a dozen White House and administration officials directly involved, the Times reported that Trump had moved on from the idea by the end of the week.
You can read about this incident and more in the new book “Border Wars: Inside Trump’s Assault on Immigration,” which is out next week.
In those private meetings, the Times reports, the president also suggested “fortifying a border wall with a water-filled trench, stocked with snakes or alligators, prompting aides to seek a cost estimate.”
