Trump tells 60 Minutes that deportation policy was ‘too tough’
President makes unusual acknowledgement that one of the defining policies of his second administration had become a political liability Donald Trump has admitted that his deportation policy was “too tough” and has offered to strike an immigration deal with Democrats in a concession following the Republicans’ disastrous defeat in the midterm elections. In an interview on the CBS network’s 60 Minutes broadcast on…
Key points
- Trump told 60 Minutes his deportation policy was 'too tough' and had both helped and hurt him.
- He said he is open to a deal letting some long-term undocumented immigrants stay in the US.
- Trump blamed the Iran war and petrol prices for the Republicans' midterm defeat.
Donald Trump has said his deportation policy was "too tough" and offered to work out an immigration deal with Democrats, in an interview on CBS's 60 Minutes broadcast on Sunday. The admission came after the Republicans' midterm election defeat.
Trump told correspondent Ross Douthat that the crackdown had both helped and hurt him. He said people gave him high marks for closing the border and removing "the bad ones", but he was also hurt because people with good jobs who committed one violation were caught up.
Proposed deal with Democrats
Trump said an agreement with Democrats was achievable. He proposed continuing to remove people convicted of serious crimes, such as killers, rapists and drug dealers, while making an accommodation for people who had been in the country for 10 or 15 years.
He said some Democrats had already contacted him and that he could refrain from name-calling for six months to secure a deal, replying: "Very easily." The comments came after he elevated Stephen Miller, the architect of his immigration crackdown, to White House chief of staff on Friday.
I think it was too tough. I think it might be too tough, yeah.
— Donald Trump
Midterms and other topics
Trump blamed the war with Iran and higher petrol prices for much of the Republicans' midterms defeat, agreeing with Vice-President J D Vance that the conflict was a major factor. He also cited what he described as growing dislike of Israel, but said the campaign had been justified and he would make the same decision again.
On the economy, he said his administration had failed to communicate its achievements, calling it "bad messaging, maybe by me". He said he did not mind AI guardrails and defended his family's cryptocurrency business, saying: "I know nothing about it." Asked whether he could forgive political opponents, he said: "The answer is no."
