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Trump’s
former Border Patrol commander now claims Trump administration wants him dead
‘Do I
think they want me killed? Absolutely,’ former Border Patrol Commander-at-large
Gregory Bovino told Tucker Carlson
Brendan
Rascius in New York
Thursday
27 August 2026 18:29 BST
A former
Border Patrol official who helped spearhead President Donald Trump’s
immigration crackdown has claimed the administration now wants him dead.
Gregory
Bovino made the explosive allegation during a lengthy interview with
conservative podcaster Tucker Carlson, released Wednesday night.
“Do I
think they want me killed? Absolutely,” Bovino told Carlson during the
interview, which has been viewed two million times on X alone. The White House
has labeled his comments “absurd.”
Bovino,
56, was one of the most prominent figures associated with Trump’s hard-line
immigration agenda. As a Border Patrol commander-at-large, he helped lead
enforcement operations in Minnesota and became known for aggressive measures,
including firing tear gas at protesters — a tactic that has prompted legal
scrutiny.
He left
his post in January, after federal agents shot and killed two American citizens
in Minnesota, incidents that triggered growing opposition to the
administration’s immigration enforcement approach, polls show. Bovino retired
from federal service several months later.
Trump has
distanced himself from Bovino, describing him in January as “a pretty out there
kind of guy.” The president later called for a “softer touch” on immigration.
During
his interview with Carlson — who has also broken with the administration —
Bovino claimed that his security detail was withdrawn as soon as he left
government, despite what he described as an onslaught of death threats.
He said
he believed the protection had been removed as part of an effort to “silence
him.”
“Silence
you, like get you killed? Because that’s what it sounds like,” Carlson said.
“Do I
think they want me dead? At this point yes,” Bovino replied.
“I’m in a
running battle every time I go out,” he continued. “I mean, every time the
citizens of my own community are like, ‘What is going on with you?’ These
people come up. There’s some crazies out there. You know, you know this,
Tucker, and you bet. Do I think they want me killed? Absolutely.”
Bovino
clarified that he does not believe Trump is behind the alleged effort. Instead,
he blamed the administration’s “hellacious gatekeepers,” specifically naming
Border Czar Tom Homan.
“This is
absurd,” White House spokesperson Lauren Bis told The Independent. “Tom Homan
is an American patriot and career law enforcement officer with decades of
experience effectively protecting American communities and deporting illegal
aliens.”
A White
House official said that Homan does not get involved with security matters
regarding former or current DHS officials.
“Federal
security details are provided to designated officials while they are serving in
government,” a DHS spokesperson told The Independent. “Once an individual
leaves federal service, that protection ends. This is not a matter of policy or
discretion; it is the law. As a private citizen, the individual is responsible
for arranging and paying for their own security, just like other former federal
officials.”
Elsewhere
in the interview, Bovino said believes forces within the Trump administration
are opposed to carrying out the mass deportation campaign the president had
promised — which he claimed is not actually underway.
He also
asserted, without offering evidence, that 105 million undocumented immigrants
are currently living in the U.S., a figure that would represent nearly one in
three people in the country.
According
to the U.S. Census, there are about 50 million immigrants in the country. As of
2023, there were an estimated 14 million illegal immigrants living in the U.S.,
according to the Pew Research Center.
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