--- title: John Kelly and John Bolton Argue Over Immigration description: John Kelly and John Bolton argued over immigration policy at the White House Thursday amid Trump's recent comments on the Mexico border. canonical: https://time.com/5429033/bolton-kelly-immigration-fight-white-house/ author: TIME article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-10-18T20:58:37.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-13T08:03:27.056Z article:section: Politics og:title: John Kelly and John Bolton Had a Profanity-Laced Argument at the White House Over Immigration og:description: Trump sided with Bolton, a source said og:url: https://time.com/5429033/bolton-kelly-immigration-fight-white-house/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5fb59e3936a7eec7/69893cf97cdbac7492d5e35b/bolton-kelly-white-house-fight.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5384 og:image:height: 3029 og:image:alt: bolton-kelly-white-house-fight og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: John Kelly and John Bolton Had a Profanity-Laced Argument at the White House Over Immigration twitter:description: Trump sided with Bolton, a source said twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5fb59e3936a7eec7/69893cf97cdbac7492d5e35b/bolton-kelly-white-house-fight.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # John Kelly and John Bolton Got Into a Profanity-Laced Argument at the White House Over Immigration > Sponsored content. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=a9112041-fbcf-4330-ab44-2168829f4d7e&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Caravan of Central American Migrants Swells as It Advances Toward U.S. [Watch (HLS stream): Caravan of Central American Migrants Swells as It Advances Toward U.S.](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/0UlRjm8d.m3u8) (1:44)  _Published 2018-10-18. Despite Mexican efforts to stop them at the border, a growing throng of Central American migrants resumed their advance toward the U.S. border early Sunday in southern Mexico._ by [Jennifer Jacobs / Bloomberg](https://time.com/author/bloomberg/) ## Jennifer Jacobs / Bloomberg Contributor Oct 18, 2018 8:58 PM UTC Despite Mexican efforts to stop them at the border, a growing throng of Central American migrants resumed their advance toward the U.S. border early Sunday in southern Mexico. by [Jennifer Jacobs / Bloomberg](https://time.com/author/bloomberg/) ## Jennifer Jacobs / Bloomberg Contributor Oct 18, 2018 8:58 PM UTC (Bloomberg) — President Donald Trump’s chief of staff and his national security adviser engaged in a profanity-laced argument outside the Oval Office on Thursday, according to three people familiar with the episode. The chief of staff, John Kelly, and the national security adviser, John Bolton, fought over immigration and border crossings, including the performance of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, one person familiar with the matter said. Bolton criticized Nielsen, a former Kelly deputy whom he advocated to replace him at the department. Trump sided with Bolton, the person said, which may once again stir speculation that Kelly will soon depart the White House. Trump has lately expressed fury about a large group of migrants who are traveling from Honduras toward the U.S. border. He vowed Thursday to deploy the military and shut down the Mexican border unless the migrants are turned back. > [](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1052885781675687936) The clash is an indication that tension is flaring in the White House 19 days before midterm elections in which Republican control of Congress is at stake. The shouting match was so intense that other White House aides worried one of the two men might immediately resign. Neither of the men is resigning, the people said. Trump is aware of the argument, the people said, even though the president told reporters he didn’t know about it before boarding Air Force One to travel to Montana for a campaign rally. He has recently sought to make immigration a more prominent political issue, blaming Democrats for increased numbers of migrants crossing the border. ## Transcript [00:00] [ MUSIC ] [ MUSIC ] [ MUSIC ] [ MUSIC ] [ MUSIC ] [00:00] [ MUSIC ] [ MUSIC ] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5429033/bolton-kelly-immigration-fight-white-house/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5429033/bolton-kelly-immigration-fight-white-house/"},"headline":"John Kelly and John Bolton Got Into a Profanity-Laced Argument at the White House Over Immigration","datePublished":"2018-10-18T20:58:37.000Z","dateModified":"2026-10-13T08:03:27.056Z","description":"Trump sided with Bolton, a source said","url":"https://time.com/5429033/bolton-kelly-immigration-fight-white-house/","keywords":["Immigration","White House","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5fb59e3936a7eec7/69893cf97cdbac7492d5e35b/bolton-kelly-white-house-fight.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Jennifer Jacobs / Bloomberg"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5fb59e3936a7eec7/69893cf97cdbac7492d5e35b/bolton-kelly-white-house-fight.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"bolton-kelly-white-house-fight","caption":"Trump, Washington, USA - 10 Oct 2018","creditText":"Pablo Martinez Monsivais—AP/REX/Shutterstock","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/tag/immigration/","name":"Immigration"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5429033/bolton-kelly-immigration-fight-white-house/","name":"John Kelly and John Bolton Got Into a Profanity-Laced Argument at the White House Over Immigration"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Caravan of Central American Migrants Swells as It Advances Toward U.S.","description":"Despite Mexican efforts to stop them at the border, a growing throng of Central American migrants resumed their advance toward the U.S. border early Sunday in southern Mexico.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/0UlRjm8d/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2018-10-18T17:35:29.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/0UlRjm8d.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/5429033/bolton-kelly-immigration-fight-white-house/","duration":"PT1M44S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/5429033/bolton-kelly-immigration-fight-white-house/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```