Trump's abrupt decision to ban all immigration to the US was being pushed by Tucker Carlson on Fox News for weeks

• President Donald Trump on Monday abruptly announced a total ban on migration to the US during the coronavirus crisis.
• Tucker Carlson has been advocating for such a ban on his Fox News show for weeks.
• Carlson has often served as a sounding board and champion for Trump's hardline "America First" policies.
• Observers say that with the US economy in crisis, Trump is trying to shore up support from his base.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

President Donald Trump took many by surprise on Monday night with his tweeted announcement of a total ban on migration to the US in light of the coronavirus pandemic.

The background to the president' abrupt decision may lie in Fox News host Tucker Carlson, who also serves as an informal presidential adviser and ardent supporter of Trump's "America First" policies, which heavily supports curbs to migration into the US.

For weeks, Carlson had been advocating on his show a ban on legal immigration into the US — the exact measure that Trump announced on Monday.

On April 1, Carlson told his viewers: "Certainly the current president has the power to cut legal immigration in order to protect the nation. And, in fact, American law gives him explicitly this right," according to Media Matters, a group that monitors conservative media.

"The time to placate corporate interest looking for low wages at all costs has passed, we need to stop this," Carlson added.

Last week Carlson also invited Jeff Sessions — Trump's former attorney general who is campaigning to win back his Senate seat in Alabama — onto his show to argue for the ban.

"I am calling on the federal government to immediately halt immigration to the United States until Americans are BACK TO WORK! It is insanity for this nation to invite foreigners to come in and take any of the few jobs available during this crisis," Sessions tweeted after his appearance.

Sessions was the earliest congressional champion of Trump's hardline anti-migrant policies, but fell out of favor with the president after recusing himself from Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into the Trump presidential campaign's links to Russia.

Hours after Trump tweeted his announcement on Monday night, Sessions appeared to take a victory lap, congratulating the president on his decision and quoting a Politico report on his appearance on Carlson's show as one of the likely factors underlying it.

Trump's announcement Monday reportedly wrongfooted even the Department of Homeland Security — which oversees immigration into the US — with the president having made no mention of the plan in his daily coronavirus task force briefing earlier that day.

The announcement also appears to contradict Trump's wish to reopen the US economy as soon as possible. Millions are out of work and businesses are collapsing amid lockdown measures and social-distancing rules.

Curbing immigration would likely place limits on the capacity of companies to hire from abroad to gear up growth post-lockdown

And it is not entirely clear exactly who the ban applies to — as Trump has already suspended all visa applications and extended border closures with Canada and Mexico.

Observers say Trump is desperate to shore up the support of his base as poll ratings plummet and the 2020 election only months away.

This also isn't the first time the president has turned to Carlson and fellow anti-migration hardliners for help.

Carlson reportedly played a key role in persuading Trump to start taking the coronavirus outbreak seriously in March. Trump has also sought Carlson's counsel in foreign policy.

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