President Trump on Tuesday acknowledged that he has no proof that people of Middle Eastern descent have joined a large migrant caravan moving toward the U.S.-Mexico border, tempering a claim he has made in recent days. Add Interest 
 
 "There's no proof of anything. But there could very well be,” Trump said in remarks in the Oval Office on Tuesday afternoon. His remarks came after several administration officials, including Vice President Pence, sought to back up the president in the face of skepticism about his claim this week.  President Donald Trump told reporters assembled in the Oval Office on Tuesday that he has "very good information" that there are "Middle Easterners" in the caravan, but admitted he has "no proof." “They say it happens all the time from the Middle East,” Trump said. Asked about this in the Oval Office, Trump said Border Patrol officials have told him they have intercepted “all sorts of people” of Middle Eastern descent trying to enter the United States over the years. Trump was asked about why he is implying that "Middle Easterners" are terrorists, and he responded by saying Customs and Border Patrol has intercepted both "good" and "bad" people at the border from the Middle East. They’ve intercepted wonderful people from the Middle East, and they’ve intercepted bad ones,” he said. Trump first claimed in a tweet Monday that “Criminals and unknown Middle Easterners are mixed in” the caravan, which the president has pointed to repeatedly as he seeks to elevate immigration as an issue ahead of the Nov. 6 midterm elections. Asked while sitting for an interview at a Washington Post event Tuesday if he has evidence, Pence sought to back up his boss. “It’s inconceivable that there are not people of Middle Eastern descent in a crowd of more than 7,000 people advancing toward our border,” the vice president said, asserting that “there are statistics on this.” 
 
 [The mystery of ‘unknown Middle Easterners’: Who is really in the migrant caravan?] Guillermo Arias/AFP/Getty Images 
 
 During the conversation with The Post, Pence echoed claims made Monday by White House press secretary Sarah Sanders that 10 suspected terrorists a day are apprehended at the southern border, a statistic that has been debunked by members of their own administration. Those statistics, from fiscal 2017, were not specific to the U.S.-Mexico border and offer no proof that anyone in the current caravan is a Middle Easterner or terrorist. U.S. Customs and Border Protection arrested an average of 10 people a day in the 2017 budget year who were trying to enter the U.S. from countries with suspected links to terrorism, according to Pence's office. That average applies to all points of entry, not just the southern border. Houlton also tweeted that the department has confirmed that some migrants who are part of the caravan “are gang members or have significant criminal histories.” 
 
 Secretary of State Mike Pompeo also spoke about the caravan at a State Department news conference Tuesday evening, arguing that it presents a national security risk to the United States. "He told me that the caravan that is now making its way through Mexico, headed for the southern border, was organized by leftist organizations and financed by Venezuela." In recent days, Trump has attempted to make the migrant caravan a midterm campaign issue by blaming Democrats for not cooperating with him on immigration reform.
– President Trump has admitted that he has no proof for his claim that "unknown Middle Easterners" are part of a caravan of migrants making its way to the US border from Central America. He told reporters in the Oval Office on Tuesday that he had received "very good information," but no proof, ABC reports. "There's no proof of anything. But there could very well be," Trump said. He said that over the years, "all sorts of people" from the Middle East had been intercepted at America's southern border. "They have intercepted wonderful people from the Middle East," he said. "And they have intercepted bad ones." The caravan was in Huixtla, Mexico, on Tuesday, about 1,000 miles from the US border. When the Washington Post asked Mike Pence earlier Tuesday if he could back up Trump's claims, he said it is "inconceivable that there are not people of Middle Eastern descent in a crowd of more than 7,000 people advancing toward our border." The vice president also claimed that in the last fiscal year, 10 terrorists or suspected terrorists from the Middle East were stopped at the US-Mexico border every day. Pence had his facts mixed up, according to the AP: His own office says US Customs and Border Protection stopped an average of 10 people a day last year trying to enter the US from countries with suspected links to terrorism, but most of them were stopped at airports, not the southern border. (Trump has also claimed that Democrats are behind the caravan.)