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As media figures, Trump picks Homan, Waltz, and Bondi have repeatedly spread fear about ISIS crossing the southern border

Incoming national security adviser Michael Waltz responded to the recent New Orleans attack by saying the US should close the border

Written by Payton Armstrong

Published

After a truck-ramming attack that was reportedly inspired by the Islamic State group killed at least 14 people in New Orleans at a New Year's celebration, Fox News, President-elect Donald Trump, and several of his administration picks, including Tom Homan and Michael Waltz, attempted to falsely connect the attack to the southern border.

While previously appearing in right-wing media, these administration picks — along with Trump’s pick for attorney general, Pam Bondi — repeatedly fearmongered about terrorists, such as Islamic State group members, coming across the southern border.

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  • After a deadly terrorist attack in New Orleans, Fox News and Trump quickly sought to tie the attack to the southern border

    • Fox News attempted to link a reportedly Islamic State group-inspired truck attack by an American citizen to border security even though there was no apparent connection. Fox initially misreported that the truck used in the New Orleans attack had crossed the southern border two days prior, citing “anonymous sources,” but later quietly retracted the claim. [Media Matters, 1/2/25; The Associated Press, 1/2/25]
    • Just minutes after Fox falsely reported the suspect had crossed the border, President-elect Donald Trump claimed he was an immigrant — signaling a restart of the Fox-Trump feedback loop. As noted by Media Matters’ Matt Gertz, “The falsehoods mark a resumption of the Trump-Fox feedback loop that powered his communications during his first term in the White House. The then-president, an obsessive consumer of Fox programming, sent nearly 1,300 tweets in response to coverage he saw on Fox News and Fox Business over the last 29 months of his tenure.” [Media Matters, 1/2/25]
    • Right-wing media, in particular Fox News, have a history of linking threats of terrorism to the southern border. In 2023, Newsmax, OAN, and Fox News used an exclusive Fox report about 23 individuals apprehended at the border to stoke fears of terrorists infiltrating the country, implying that there could be more crossing the border undetected. And in 2019, Fox allowed Trump administration officials to falsely claim that “there were nearly 4,000 known or suspected terrorists” arrested along the U.S.-Mexico border during the previous year. [Media Matters, 4/20/22, 1/4/19]

  • Trump picks Homan and Waltz have baselessly linked the New Orleans attack to the southern border during right-wing media appearances

    • On Fox & Friends, incoming national security adviser Michael Waltz declared that the attack in New Orleans showed the need to “close the border, secure our sovereignty.” [Fox News, Fox & Friends, 1/2/25]
    • Incoming Trump “border czar” Tom Homan appeared on Fox’s America Reports to discuss the attack in New Orleans, saying, “The threats aren't over. I’ve been on this network for four years talking about the threats coming across the southern border.” He added that “this country is in grave danger. … Despite what’s happened the last two days ... this administration is not stopping. They are still releasing thousands of people. … I can't wait for the new administration to take power and secure this border and protect our national security.” [Fox News, America Reports, 1/2/25]

  • Some of Trump’s nominees have a history of fearmongering during right-wing media appearances and on social media about terrorists — particularly Islamic State group members — coming across the southern border

    • Discussing an Islamic State group-affiliated attack in Russia while appearing on Fox Business, Waltz agreed with host Stuart Varney’s assertion that “the principal terror threat to America” is “ISIS coming across our southern border, operating sleeper cells here.” Waltz suggested that a similar attack could happen in the U.S., saying, “The irony is they came across Russia's – literally their southern border, where … they were importing labor because of their shortage, their manpower shortage in Ukraine. And ISIS came right up into those flows just like they're doing on our southern border.” [Fox Business, Varney & Co, 3/25/24; The New York Times, 3/24/24]
    • Waltz has repeatedly fearmongered on social media about the Islamic State group coming across the southern border to commit a terrorist attack. In September 2024, he warned of a terrorist attack “on our homeland” because “al Qaeda and ISIS are back” and “coupled with our wide-open southern border, I fear it’s just a matter of time.” Months earlier, Waltz had posted that under the Biden administration, “ISIS-linked networks are smuggling terrorists across our southern border.” [Twitter/X, 9/11/24, 6/26/24]
    • During a 2023 appearance on Sean Hannity’s radio show, now-incoming Attorney General Pam Bondi agreed with the host that “there are terror cells here only because of the wide-open borders that Joe Biden has allowed.” Bondi added, “What have they been planning, knowing that these borders are wide open, and the Biden administration was doing absolutely nothing to stop terrorist cells from coming into our country. And we know they've already apprehended, at least they've admitted to a few terrorists attempting to come into our country. So how many have flowed into the United States of America?” [Premiere Radio Network, The Sean Hannity Show, 12/5/23]
    • On The Ingraham Angle, Homan attacked the Biden administration’s immigration policies, claiming there are “terrorist organizations around the world” that are “using the southwest border as the entry point in this country.” Homan also fearmongered about “historic numbers” despite a reported dip in border crossings. [Fox News, The Ingraham Angle, 9/27/24; USA Today, 8/16/24]