Washington (CNN)It will take more than the cries of babies to make President Donald

Trump back down on immigration, an issue that has animated his most ardent political
supporters since he first stepped into politics.

The crisis over traumatized kids separated from their parents after illegally crossing the
southern border is only deepening after Trump rejected pleas to uncouple their fate from
his efforts to drive his hardline border security and visa policies into law.
While some Republicans are responding to rising outrage at the treatment of the
children that one top pediatrician derided as "government-sanctioned child abuse,"
Trump is defiant and exacerbating the controversy with extreme rhetoric.

Fact-checking Trump on immigration, family separations

Meeting with House Republicans to go over potential legislative fixes, Trump spoke of
the heartwrenching images mostly in political terms rather than sympathetic ones.
The President told lawmakers that media coverage of "the crying babies doesn't look
good politically," one member told CNN's Dana Bash.
His former campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, perpetuated the message that for
some Trump supporters stories of the forced separations should be callously dismissed.
While appearing Tuesday on Fox News, former senior Democratic National Committee
adviser Zac Petkanas shared an anecdote he had read about "a 10-year-old girl with Down
syndrome" who had been "taken from her mother and put in a cage."
"Womp, womp," the former Trump campaign manager responded dismissively.
Trump's firm stance appears to reflect a belief that immigration is so crucial to his
connection with his political base that a climbdown is unthinkable. So he continues to
market his false claimthat the separations are the fault of laws that tie his hands.
"These are crippling loopholes that cause family separation, which we don't want," Trump
said Tuesday.

Divergence of interests

Play Video
Trump supporters react to family separations 03:16
His calculation points to a rare divergence of interests between Trump and lawmakers who
have largely toed his line after his takeover of the GOP. While the President has an eye on
his 2020 coalition, many Republicans fear the storm could doom them with suburban,
independent and more moderate voters during November's midterm elections.
The President's strategy also relies on his capacity to maintain the misdirection and
falsehood that he has concocted around the issue that has been parroted by conservative
media.
To that end, Trump poured praise on his Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen on
Tuesday, after she braved the White House press corps and defended his policy.
"(She) did a fabulous job yesterday at the press conference explaining security at the
border and for our country, while at the same time recommending changes to obsolete &
nasty laws, which force family separation. We want "heart" and security in America!" Trump
tweeted.
Donald J. Trump
✔@realDonaldTrump

Homeland Security @SecNielsen did a fabulous job yesterday at the press conference
explaining security at the border and for our country, while at the same time
recommending changes to obsolete & nasty laws, which force family separation. We
want “heart” and security in America!
9:06 PM - Jun 19, 2018

The risk for Trump is that he is increasingly isolated amid a torrent of criticism of the
separations, from political, spiritual, business leaders and even US allies, unleashed by
heart rending audio of wailing children and pictures of kids in chain-link fencing in detention
facilities.
There is meanwhile more than a little irony over the White House's insistence that Trump
lacks the power to stop the separations and that his hands are tied by Congress.
After all, this is a President who has argued he has sweeping executive powers -- ones that
he said he used in good faith to fire former FBI Director James Comey, for instance, and
insists could even be used to pardon himself if any transgressions on his part are found the
Russia investigation.

Crucial moment
Trump ramps up rhetoric: Dems want 'illegal immigrants' to 'infest our country'
The crucial moment of a day of drama and shifting political terrain was the Capitol Hill
meeting on Tuesday evening.
But according to the testimony of those inside the session, the President dealt with the
plight of the kids as a political problem rather than dwelling on the humanitarian implications
of a practice that he has executive power to change if he wanted.
Earlier, the President poured oil on the fire in a meandering speech to a group of small
business owners, in which he accused the media of helping child smugglers and suggested
undocumented immigrants are criminals and gang members, after tweeting earlier that
Democrats wanted to "infest" America with "illegal immigrants."
By refusing to change course, despite Republican pressure, and by resisting the possibility
of standalone legislation to fix the issue, Trump effectively signaled he wants something in
return.
One person in the room told CNN's Sunlen Serfaty that the President repeatedly stressed
the need for the border wall that he once promised Mexico would pay for.
"I am behind you so much. We need the wall," he said, according to the source.
The White House said that Trump expressed support for two Republican immigration reform
bills, one meant to appeal to conservatives and one to more moderate GOP members.
"He told the members, 'I'm with you 100%,' " said Raj Shah, a White House spokesman.
After modifications, both bills would now end the practice of family separations, giving the
President a face saving way out of the controversy.
But even the compromise bill contains changes to the legal immigration system, including
an end to the visa lottery system and restrictions on family migration that are almost certain
to kill its chances in the Senate, many reform advocates believe.

Seeking political advantage

Play Video
Trump backs Nielsen as pressure to resign grows 02:07
By refusing to consider the separations in isolation, Trump appears to be trying to change
the political dynamics for bills enforcing his policies on immigration. Such an approach
makes White House denials that the President is trying to use the kids at the southern
border as leverage ring hollow.
But Trump has shown an uncanny capacity to assess the feelings of his ever-loyal voters
and proven that there is political mileage in sticking to his guns despite growing public
outrage.
Trump voters first bonded with their champion over immigration, and Trump seems to be
confident that his argument that the rule of law must be implemented and that the children
are being used as pawns by parents who broke the law by crossing the border will appeal to
his coalition.
One Trump voter in Arizona, Carl Bier, told CNN's Martin Savidge that he was behind the
President all the way.
"These people that we have coming across the border illegally are breaking the rules, I
have no feelings for them at all," said Bier.
Adding to the sense of confusion on Capitol Hill, many members left the meeting with the
President still uncertain about exactly what he stands for -- in a parallel of many of his
troubled interactions with his fellow Republicans that helped doom last year's health care
reform effort.
Most Republicans in Washington accept the premise that immigration reform is so
fundamental to shaping the dynamics of their party's politics that no measure can pass
without a strong and relentless effort by Trump to sell legislation to his base and his
willingness to give GOP members cover.
Many members had hoped to see that kind of leadership on Tuesday, but didn't, one
member told CNN's Jeff Zeleny on condition of anonymity.
"It's always nice to see the President but this didn't move the ball," the member said.
Rep. Will Hurd, a Texas Republican who is one of the GOP's most endangered lawmakers
in November, told CNN's Erin Burnett that it wasn't clear what would happen next.
"I think it's a little bit ridiculous that we have to legislate that you shouldn't take kids from
their mommies," Hurd said.
CNN's Sophie Tatum contributed to this report.