US President Donald Trump says he has no plans to deport Prince Harry from the US amid a legal battle over his immigration status – taking a swipe at his wife Meghan Markle in the process.
‘I don’t want to do that,’ Trump said on Friday.
‘I’ll leave him alone. He’s got enough problems with his wife. She’s terrible.’
Harry’s immigration status is the subject of a lawsuit in Washington DC. Conservative think tank the Heritage Foundation has alleged that he may have concealed illegal drug use that should have denied him a US visa.
In his memoir, Spare, he detailed how he took cocaine several times as a teenager and experimented with cannabis and mushrooms.
Heritage cited his own admissions in its filing against the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) as it sought to have Harry’s visa records released.
It has suggested that Trump’s predecessor, Democrat Joe Biden, had given Harry preferential treatment when he relocated to California after ‘Megxit’ – when he and Meghan bowed out of royal duties altogether.
The think tank previously tried to seek the disclosure of Harry’s visa papers via US Customs and Border protection, which said it needed the Duke of Sussex’s permission to release them.
It appears to be a change of heart for Trump, who had previously suggested last March that he could deport the Duke.
He had told GB News: ‘We’ll have to see if they know something about the drugs, and if he lied they’ll have to take appropriate action.’
The US Department of State says that convictions for drug offences can make visa applicants ineligible.
Heritage had sought to obtain the information from the DHS via freedom of information requests before bringing its case to court. Harry is not a party in the lawsuit.
This week, judge Carl Nichols asked the DHS to provide details of redactions it could make in Harry’s visa records in what has been interpreted as a strong suggestion the documents could be made public, to a degree.
Judge Nichols had previously ruled on September 9 that the secret records should remain private.
Harry’s immigration status – whether he is on a regular or diplomatic visa, or a green card signifying permanent residency – is not known.
In February last year, the Duke said he had ‘considered’ applying to become a US citizen.
Asked on ABC’s Good Morning America what was stopping him, he said: ‘I have no idea. It’s a thought that has crossed my mind but it’s not a high priority for me right now.’
Two months later the Duke indicated that he is ‘usually resident’ in the U.S.
The classification was made in a business filing at U.K. Companies House for British-based Travalyst Ltd, which he owns 75 percent of. The company advises travel brands on sustainable tourism.
Harry’s memoir spare featured descriptions of drug use, including an admission by the Duke that cocaine ‘didn’t do anything for me’.
Sources close to the Duke have previously indicated that he was truthful as he completed his visa application.
The DHS said of last year’s information request: ‘Much like health, financial, or employment information, a person’s immigration information is private personal information.’
Trump had previously suggested last March that he could deport the Duke, telling GB News: ‘We’ll have to see if they know something about the drugs, and if he lied they’ll have to take appropriate action.’
Speaking outside court earlier this week, Nile Gardiner of the Heritage Foundation said: ‘We are pushing for the Trump administration to release the records, and we have urged President Trump to release the records.
‘We hope that with a new president there will be full transparency.’
US visa applicants are asked by the DHS whether they are or have ever been ‘a drug abuser or addict?, and whether they have ever ‘violated any law relating to controlled substances’.
If they answer ‘yes’ they can still receive a waiver. However, it has not been confirmed which type of visa the royal applied for.
Last year, Dailymail.com revealed that Harry could be on a rare diplomatic visa known as an A-1 Head of State visa.
That would have meant he was not vetted by U.S. authorities for past use of drugs. If this is the case, the State Department under Trump could withdraw the status.
Trump added in his interview with the New York Post that he thought Harry’s brother William, the Prince of Wales, as a ‘great young man’.
The pair had met for a behind-closed-doors meeting following the reopening of Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris in December.
The President has previously said he is ‘not a fan’ of Meghan – while she has labelled him ‘divisive’ and ‘misogynistic’.
He has also described the Duke as being ‘whipped’ by the former Suits star.
The Trumps and the Sussexes have been civil in the past, prior to Megxit – with Harry seen shaking hands with Melania Trump in 2017 as the third Invictus Games got underway in Canada a year before he and Meghan tied the knot.
Meanwhile, Meghan Markle gave an impromptu speech at a private Invictus Games event to say how she feels ‘at home’ in Canada – praising her husband for his dedication to the sporting event for disabled military veterans.
She said to participants in the event: ‘He’s in it with you, and you’ll see him through all of those moments. He’ll be there with you.’
Meghan also made a touching confession about her family’s preparations for the Games, mentioning her children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet.
‘What you won’t have seen is all of the moments that have happened in the lead-up to these Games, all of the moments where, as you know, with families, the big rush in the morning – getting ready for school, packing the lunch boxes, making breakfast.
‘My husband’s in all of that with us, and then he’ll be on his phone, and Archie will say: “Papa, why are you on your phone?” And he’s like: “That’s Invictus. I’m getting ready for Invictus”.
‘It means so much to him. You are his family, just as we are his family, and I hope you recognise how much of his heart he has poured into every single thing that has gotten all of you to this week, which is going to be spectacular. I just need you to know that.’
This is a developing story – more to follow.