The following is a timeline of instances of extremism in the Trump administration in April.
President Trump has opened the White House doors to extremism, not only consulting with hate groups on policies that erode our country’s civil rights protections but enabling the infiltration of extremist ideas into the administration’s rhetoric and agenda.
Once relegated to the fringes, the radical right now has a toehold in the White House.
Groups and individuals referenced in the list below are not associated with hate groups and extremist ideology unless indicated by a hate group profile.
Anti-Immigrant
Apr 1
Former Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach and former Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli are among President Trump’s top picks to be “immigration czar” overseeing immigration policy.
White Nationalist
Apr 1
DHS disbands the group of analysts who focused on domestic terrorism, despite clear evidence of increasing violence from homegrown terrorists, including white supremacists.
Anti-Immigrant
Apr 2
President Trump repeats his threat to close the border, three days before visiting the Mexico border in California.
White Nationalist
Apr 4
FBI Director Christopher Wray calls white supremacy a “persistent, pervasive” threat to the US during an interview on CNN, a few weeks after Trump said he does not think global white supremacy is a problem.
Anti-Immigrant
Apr 4
Trump says the US needs to “get rid of” immigration judges and curb “chain migration,” an anti-immigrant myth peddled by hate groups close to the administration.
Anti-Immigrant
Apr 5
Trump claims “the country is full” during a visit to Calexico, a California town on the Mexican border.
Anti-Immigrant
Apr 6
The White House withdraws the nomination of Ron Vitiello, acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, to lead ICE.
Anti-Muslim
Apr 6
A Trump supporter who threatened to kill U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar, one of the first two Muslim women in Congress, is arrested. Hours later, Trump mocks her at the Republican Jewish Coalition’s annual convention.
Anti-Immigrant
Apr 7
Kirstjen Nielsen resigns from her role as DHS Secretary. During her tenure, she implemented family separation and other administration immigration policies.
Anti-Immigrant
Apr 8
A federal judge blocks the Trump administration from forcing asylum seekers to wait in Mexico while their cases are considered. The judge says the policy doesn’t do enough to prevent “undue risk to their lives or freedom.”
Anti-Immigrant
Apr 9
The Defense Department announces it has awarded $976 million to contractors to build an “anti-climb” border wall. The projects are scheduled to be completed by October 2020.
Anti-Immigrant
Hate Group
Apr 9
Julie Kirchner, formerly of the Federation for American Immigration Reform, an anti-immigrant hate group, is on the Trump administration’s short list of people to lead DHS.
Read our extremist group profile
Anti-LGBT
Apr 12
The Trump administration’s ban on transgender people serving in the military goes into effect, after several court challenges.
Anti-Immigrant
Apr 13
The White House proposes banning immigration from the countries with the highest rates of people who overstay short-term visas, which includes several African countries. Trump referred to some African countries and Haiti as “shithole” countries last year.
Anti-Muslim
Apr 15
U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar receives an increased number of death threats after Trump tweets an image linking her to 9/11. White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders praises the president for “calling Omar out.”
Anti-LGBT
Apr 15
The U.S. Naval Academy will ban transgender students beginning in 2020, days after the Trump administration’s ban on transgender people serving in the military went into effect.
Anti-Immigrant
Apr 16
The House Judiciary Committee requests information on an exchange between President Trump and Customs and Border Patrol Commissioner Kevin McAleenan on having border patrol agents block immigrants from entering the US.
Anti-Immigrant
Apr 16
President Trump orders close to 10,000 troops to the US-Mexico border.
Anti-Immigrant
Apr 16
The Trump administration resumes its policy of forcing asylum seekers to wait in Mexico while their cases are considered.
Anti-Immigrant
Apr 17
U.S. Attorney General William Barr overrules a 2005 precedent allowing immigrants to bond out of detention while their cases are being considered.
Anti-LGBT
Apr 22
The Supreme Court announces it will hear three cases about whether employment discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity is permissible under Title VII, which bans other forms of workplace discrimination.
Anti-Immigrant
Apr 23
The Supreme Court hears arguments on whether the 2020 Census should include a citizenship question.
Anti-Immigrant
Apr 24
The White House rejects the House Oversight Committee’s request for senior adviser Stephen Miller to testify during a hearing on immigration.
White Nationalist
Apr 26
Trump defends the comments he made in the wake of the deadly white nationalist rally in Charlottesville in 2017, when he said the neo-Nazis and other racists marching in the streets including “some very fine people.”
Anti-LGBT
Hate Group
Apr 30
U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham is a guest speaker at a religious freedom event hosted by the Family Research Council, an anti-LGBT hate group.