Trump says deportation crackdown was too tough after midterm losses

President Donald Trump, in his first major interview since Republicans lost control of the House and Senate in the midterms, told CBS's 60 Minutes that his administration's deportation policy might have been too tough and said he thinks he can work with Democrats in the new Congress on an immigration deal.

Why it matters: The concession puts the president at odds with the hard line his administration is still enforcing, and it came shortly after he named Stephen Miller, the architect of the deportation agenda, as his new chief of staff.

Data as of PA report carried by The Gazette on November 9, 2026, read in full in this run, on the CBS 60 Minutes interview recorded on Friday and aired on Sunday, November 8, 2026; the France24 and Guardian versions of the same interview reporting were blocked to this reader, and the same remarks were reported by Deutsche Welle, Al Jazeera and Politico in the feed pool. Developing item.

President Donald Trump said his deportation policy was part of the reason Republicans lost the midterm elections, telling CBS’s 60 Minutes in an interview that aired on Sunday: “I think it might be too tough, yeah.” He said he thinks he could reach an agreement with the new Democratic majority, adding: “The deal would be we would work something out,” and that he was open to a deal letting people stay if they are good people working and, in some cases, paying taxes, while people he described as killers and drug dealers should be deported.

Trump gave no specifics on what a deal would look like, and shortly after taping the interview on Friday he named Stephen Miller, the architect of his hard line immigration agenda, as his new chief of staff. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said on social media after the interview aired that putting the man responsible for the crackdown in charge of the White House was a promotion, not a course correction.

Trump says deportation crackdown was too tough after midterm losses

Sources