A willingness to find common ground with Democrats following the midterms found President Donald Trump returning to an immigration position that previously rankled his supporters.
Before the chief executive announced the change of his White House chief of staff that seemed far from favoring amnesty, the president sat with CBS News correspondent Ross Douthat for a “60 Minutes” interview. It was then that Trump spoke to his willingness to work with Democrats on immigration, stating his deportation policy “went too far.”
Noting the niceties that followed Tuesday’s blue wave, including congratulations and a willingness to work together, Douthat sought a specific from the president on where the opposing sides would find common ground, to which Trump responded, “I’d love to do something on immigration.”
President Trump says his administration’s deportation policy was “too tough.” https://t.co/4EQsg4QA8c https://t.co/JDcqgRAySp
— 60 Minutes (@60Minutes) November 9, 2026
Asked if his policies hurt the election outcome, the president stated, “I think it both helped and hurt. I think I got an A+ for closing up the border. I get very high marks for getting the bad ones out. But 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.”
“Now, there is a large part of the country that think that they should be put out. 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. And there’s a large group of people who think that they should be allowed to stay,” furthered Trump, who went on to describe his policy as “Too tough … I think it might be too tough, yeah.”
“I think, ultimately, that hurt me,” he added.
“When you go into a hotel, and you have a woman that’s worked there as, you know, as a maid, as a cleaner, as a this, as a that, as a waitress — a lotta good things, great jobs — and all of a sudden they’re being taken outta the country, it’s tough,” expressed the president. “It’s a tough thing. But there’s a group of people that I would say on the sort of pretty far right that would like everybody taken out.”
Of note, the interview with Douthat took place prior to Susie Wiles’ departure as White House chief of staff and subsequent replacement by Stephen Miller. The report noted that, given the new COS’s role as “architect of the president’s mass deportation policy,” the move appeared to “conflict with the president’s professed desire to work with Democrats on immigration.”
In June 2025, the president sparked frustration among his supporters that he was faltering on promises of mass deportations when he had amplified the concerns of farmers and the hospitality industry, stating in part, “We must protect our Farmers, but get the CRIMINALS OUT OF THE USA.”
Amid the backlash, Trump called out federal immigration officers to expand efforts at deportations in major cities.
Meanwhile, as new backlash began regarding the president’s comment — which found DIGNIDAD Act-peddling Florida Rep. María Elvira Salazar (R) celebrating — the White House Rapid Response account sounded off on reporting that talk of a deal to let certain illegal aliens stay in the country was the same as Trump saying “he may work on an amnesty deal.”
“Wrong. The word ‘amnesty’ was never even said in this entire exchange,” stated the account, earning a community note that cited Merriam-Webster and quoted the president ahead of an avalanche of comments, “‘But people who are here, and in some cases here for 10 or 15 years, work a deal for them.’ That’s the same thing as amnesty.”
Wrong. The word “amnesty” was never even said in this entire exchange.
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) November 9, 2026
@Oilfield_Rando @RapidResponse47 @MayraFlores4TX Ya the word is irrelevant, the outcome is what matters. And the outcome sounds like letting millions of people stay here illegaly
— whitepositivedad! (@rebel160) November 9, 2026
We all heard it.
A path to citizenship is amnesty.
— Vance Murphy (@vancemurphy) November 9, 2026
@nrs_ratched @RapidResponse47 Correct. I voted to gut every business employing invaders. Period. No exceptions. I’d rather take that economic hit up front, to save my country.
— AmericaFirst1776 (@1776USAFIRST) November 9, 2026
I’m far right for not wanting illegal immigrants in my country..??
I guess I’m far right then.
— American AF 🇺🇸 (@iAnonPatriot) November 9, 2026
Native of Brooklyn, NY, Kevin Haggerty is a graduate of Hunter College where he studied Cultural Anthropology and Geography. An avid reader and truth seeker, he currently resides in Texas with his wife and their dog and, when he isn't researching current events and their impacts, you'll find him spending time with friends and family or working on his next novel.
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