President Donald Trump, in his first sit-down interview since Republicans lost both the House and the Senate in Tuesday’s midterm elections, conceded that his mass deportation policy “might be too tough” and said it hurt him with voters.
The interview with correspondent Ross Douthat aired Sunday night on CBS News’ “60 Minutes.” It was recorded at the White House on Friday, and CBS said it found the president “in a surprisingly reflective mood, and seemingly accepting of defeat.”
“I think it might be too tough”
Asked whether the immigration crackdown hurt Republicans in the midterms, Trump said, “I think it both helped and hurt.” He said he gets “an A+ for closing up the border,” but added: “I get hurt because we also took people that had good jobs” whose one violation was that “they came into the country illegally.”
When Douthat asked whether his deportation policy went too far, Trump answered, “Too tough.” Pressed again, he said: “I think it might be too tough, yeah,” and later added, “That hurt me.”
Trump described workers being removed from the country: “When you go into a hotel and you have a woman that’s worked there as… a maid, as a cleaner… as a waitress, a lotta good things, great jobs, and all of a sudden, they’re being taken outta the country, it’s tough.”
He said he would “love to do something on immigration” with the new Democratic majority, suggesting a deal for people who have been in the country “for ten and 15 years,” and said, “I think that’s something that’s actually doable.” Asked whether people in his own administration want “everybody taken out,” Trump said yes, “there’re a lotta those people.”
Then he promoted Stephen Miller
CBS noted that about an hour after the interview, Trump replaced chief of staff Susie Wiles with deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller, “the architect of the president’s mass deportation policy,” a move the network said “seems to conflict with the president’s professed desire to work with Democrats on immigration.”
The White House said in a statement to the BBC on Sunday that the administration “will not slow down its efforts to arrest and deport” immigrants it described as criminals, and CBS News reported that ICE officials have been told to aim for about 2,700 arrests a day.
Why Trump says Republicans lost
Trump opened the interview by noting he “was not on the ballot” and said voters “didn’t like the war. They didn’t like the fact that gasoline went up… and there’s a great dislike, incredibly, for Israel.” He also blamed “bad messaging, maybe by me.”
Asked if he plans to fire anyone after the defeat, Trump said, “I do. Yeah… Little bit,” and said he would be making “maybe a few changes.” He said he still has confidence in Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
His $3 billion and his enemies
Douthat pressed Trump on a Forbes report that his net worth rose by $3 billion since he returned to office, and on his co-ownership with his sons of the crypto company World Liberty Financial, which Douthat said is partly owned by investors connected to the government of the United Arab Emirates. “I know nothing about it,” Trump said.
Near the end, Douthat asked whether Trump could forgive his enemies if that were required to enter heaven. “I probably cannot do that, no,” Trump said, “because I do hate some of my enemies and I always will.”
Democrats take control of Congress in January.