‘They’ve gone batsh*t crazy’: Ex-federal officials say Trump White House is cheering on border chaos

A former official at the Customs and Border Patrol tells the Daily Beast that the Trump White House is cheering on chaos at the southern U.S. border because it makes it easier to put pressure on Congress to fund President Donald Trump's proposed wall.

"They have gone batsh*t crazy," the former official said of the Trump White House. "They are getting exactly what they want, which is the ability to present the narrative that the border is out of control."

One Trump official who is particularly invested in keeping border chaos in the headlines is Department of Homeland Security secretary Kristjen Nielsen, who has reportedly been on the chopping block and was on the verge of being outright fired after the 2018 midterm elections.

Now, however, Nielsen has the opportunity to show how "tough" she can be by firing gas canisters at migrant women and children.

"If I am Nielsen, I am definitely going to be all in with the presidents demands about potential use of force because I wouldn’t want to lose my job," one former federal official told The Daily Beast.