Trump admits deportation policy may have hurt GOP in midterms, says crackdown was ‘too tough’

WASHINGTON, DC: President Donald Trump on Sunday, November 8, acknowledged that his administration's immigration crackdown may have been “too tough,” saying the deportation of undocumented immigrants with jobs and otherwise clean records may have hurt Republicans in the midterm elections.

In an interview with CBS' '60 Minutes,' Trump defended his record on border security but conceded that immigration enforcement had also affected people who had established lives in the United States.

The president made the remarks days after Republicans suffered major midterm losses and Democrats secured control of Congress.

Trump admits immigration crackdown may have hurt Republicans

When asked whether his immigration policies had contributed to Republican losses, Trump said the crackdown had both helped and hurt the party.

The president gave himself an “A+” for closing the southern border and said he deserved “very high marks for getting the bad ones out.”

However, Trump also acknowledged that his administration had deported people who had jobs and whose only violation was entering the country illegally.

“I get hurt because we also took people that had good jobs, that created one violation, or breaking of the law, and that was that they came into the country illegally,” Trump said.

Trump also acknowledged that Americans were divided over whether undocumented immigrants who had jobs and paid taxes should be allowed to remain in the country.

“Now, there is a large part of the country that think that they should be put out,” Trump said. “And there's a large part of the country that think that they should be allowed to stay if they're good people working in a landscaping company, or working in a hotel, or doing something, right? And in some cases, paying taxes.”

When interviewer Ross Douthat pressed him on whether his deportation policy had been too harsh, Trump replied, “Too tough.” When asked again, the president said, “I think it might be too tough, yeah.”

Trump stopped short of calling for an end to deportations or announcing any changes to his administration's enforcement approach.

He also expressed a willingness to work with the incoming Democratic congressional majority on immigration, responding positively when asked about the possibility of a deal that could provide legal status to undocumented workers.

Trump signals openness to immigration deal with Democrats

Since Trump returned to office, unauthorized border crossings have fallen sharply, while federal authorities have increased arrests and deportations within the country.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention numbers have reached record highs, with the agency pushing to target 3,000 arrests a day.

The administration's enforcement approach has, however, faced scrutiny over operations in cities such as Minneapolis, vehicle stops, detention practices and the deportation of some migrants to countries other than their own.

Republican Representative Maria Elvira Salazar of Florida had also warned in September that many Hispanic voters who supported Trump in 2024 “feel betrayed.”

During the interview, Trump also blamed “bad messaging” for the Republican losses, saying the party had failed to communicate its record effectively.

“I think it was bad messaging, maybe by me, but I would talk about it all the time,” he said. When asked what had gone wrong with the messaging, Trump replied, “We couldn’t get the word across."