Donald Trump's outgoing chief of staff on Sunday admitted the president's planned wall along the US and Mexico border would be more like a fence, as he gave his final interview before leaving office. General John Kelly, who leaves the administration on Wednesday after a rocky 18-month tenure, broke with the president on key areas during an intriguing exit interview with The Los Angeles Times newspaper. The two men have had a strained relationship in recent months. In September Gen. Kelly denied claims made in Bob Woodward's bombshell book, Fear, that he called the US leader an "idiot". On Sunday, it emerged that he fundamentally disagreed with the president's characterisation of illegal immigrants as criminals who are invading America. “We do have an immigration problem," the former Marine said while describing his role spending 15 hour days alongside Mr Trump as "bone-crushing". But he added: “Illegal immigrants, overwhelmingly, are not bad people,” describing many migrants as victims of traffickers. “I have nothing but compassion for them, the young kids." Speaking of the wall, Gen. Kelly said that after consultation with border patrol agents it became clear that a continuous, opaque structure would not be suitable for stemming the flow of illegal immigrants. For a start, agents need to be able to see through any barrier to allow them to view those approaching from Mexico. “To be honest, it’s not a wall,” he said. “The president still says ‘wall’ – oftentimes frankly he’ll say ‘barrier’ or ‘fencing,’ now he’s tended toward steel slats. But we left a solid concrete wall early on in the administration, when we asked people what they needed and where they needed it.” “They said, ‘Well we need a physical barrier in certain places, we need technology across the board, and we need more people.’” The US president's vision of what he called "a big beautiful wall" that "Mexico is going to pay for" became a rallying cry to his supporters during the 2016 election campaign. But halfway through his four-year term, he is still trying to secure most of the estimated $ 18 billion (£14.2bn) needed to fund it. The stalemate between Republicans and Democrats is at the heart of the current government shutdown now entering its tenth day.

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