Trump's deportation operation underway, hundreds of migrants arrested: White House

Hundreds of migrants in the United States were arrested Thursday and others flown out of the country on military aircraft as the White House said President Donald Trump's promised deportation operation had started.

The crackdown came as Trump prepared to head on Friday to California and North Carolina, where natural disasters have turned into political footballs, in his first trip since his return to office.

And on another whirlwind day in his first week as president, Trump told Fox News he would "rather not" impose tariffs on China despite repeated vows to hit America's biggest economic rival with hefty import levies.

The Republican also said he would seek to rekindle his diplomatic relationship with Kim Jong Un, calling the North Korean leader he has met three times a "smart guy."

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump's administration on Thursday "arrested 538 illegal immigrant criminals," adding "hundreds" were deported by military aircraft.

"The largest massive deportation operation in history is well underway," she said in a post on social media platform X.

Trump promised a crackdown on illegal immigration during the election campaign and began his second term with a flurry of executive actions aimed at overhauling entry to the United States.

UN rights office spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani said in Geneva on Friday that, while countries "are entitled to exercise their jurisdiction along their international borders," they must remember that "the right to seek asylum is a universally recognised human right."

LA fires

On his first day in office, Trump signed orders declaring a "national emergency" at the southern border and announced the deployment of more troops to the area, vowing to deport "criminal aliens."

There are an estimated 11 million undocumented migrants in the United States, according to the Office of Homeland Security Statistics.

The Democratic mayor of the city of Newark, New Jersey, Ras Baraka, said in a statement on Thursday that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents "raided a local establishment... detaining undocumented residents as well as citizens, without producing a warrant".

Baraka said one of those detained during the raid was a US military veteran.

ICE announced "538 arrests" and "373 detainers lodged" in an "enforcement update" on X.

ICE lodges detainers for non-citizens who have been arrested on criminal charges and who the agency believes can be deported under the law in order to keep them in custody.

On his fourth full day back in office, Trump is due to visit fire-wrecked Los Angeles, where he will be able to see widespread damage tallied to cost billions of dollars.

Many are worried the mercurial leader will yank the federal support the city needs to get back on its feet.

Trump has suggested that aid to Democrat-led California following the deadly wildfires could be made conditional, as he pumps out false claims about water management and fish.

"I don't think we should give California anything until they let the water run down," Trump said this week, emphasizing his false claim that there is a valve in northern California that can be turned to release billions of gallons of water in the rain-starved state.

Officials say Trump will meet firefighters and those affected by the blazes that have killed more than two dozen people in Los Angeles, the second-biggest US city.

Trump has bitterly criticized Democratic California Governor Gavin Newsom as an "idiot" and has repeatedly made baseless claims that the western state had water issues because it diverted supplies to save a small fish called a smelt.

The president has also floated ending federal disaster relief in general and leaving states to fend for themselves, accusing the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) of turning its back on victims.

"FEMA has not done their job for the last four years," Trump said on Fox News. "I'd rather see the states take care of their own problems."

'Change everything'

Trump on Friday will also visit North Carolina, which is still recovering after floods caused by Hurricane Helene last year killed more than 100 people in the state.

"Trump can change everything," said Christy Edwards, a 55-year-old retired teacher and Republican supporter living an hour away from the hard-hit city of Asheville.

People were still living in camper vans with their families following the disaster, she told AFP.

"Our state has done very little. So we're hoping by Trump coming we'll help get more resources," she said.

On the international front, Trump said in a Fox News interview aired Thursday that he could make a deal with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Taiwan and trade.

"We have one very big power over China, and that's tariffs, and they don't want them, and I'd rather not have to use it. But it's a tremendous power over China," he said.

Asked during the same interview if he would "reach out" to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un again, Trump replied: "I will, yeah. He liked me."

The Republican had a rare diplomatic relationship with the reclusive Kim during his first administration from 2017 to 2021, not only meeting with him but saying the two "fell in love."

Trump also ordered on Thursday the release of documents on the 1960s assassinations of president John F. Kennedy, his younger brother Robert F. Kennedy and civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.

JFK's murder still fuels conspiracy theories more than 60 years after his death.