Trump deportation policy may have cost votes, president admits

The Trump deportation policy may have been too tough for voters, the president said in his first major interview since the midterm elections.

In an interview broadcast on Sunday, Trump linked the crackdown to Republican losses in Congress. “I think it might be too tough, yeah,” he said. The Trump deportation policy is now a political burden.

What Trump said about the Trump deportation policy

The interviewer asked whether immigration cost his party the midterms. Trump replied that it “both helped and hurt”.

Trump said he deserved an A plus for closing the border and high marks for removing what he called the bad ones. However, he said, the policy hurt because officers also took people with good jobs who had broken the law once by entering illegally.

Part of the country wants such people out, Trump said. Another part thinks they should stay if they work in jobs like landscaping or hotels, and pay taxes in some cases.

Trump believes a deal with the new Democratic majority is possible. “We would work something out,” he said, though he gave no specifics.

The president still wants to deport “killers” and “drug dealers” who live in the country illegally.

A promotion that sends a different signal

Soon after the Friday taping, Trump picked Stephen Miller, who drove his hard-line immigration agenda, as chief of staff.

Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer mocked the timing on social media. “That’s not a course correction. That’s a promotion,” he wrote.

Republican Sen. Thom Tillis said Trump needs to rethink the appointment. He called it a colossal mistake so soon after Tuesday’s defeat.

The political cost of the Trump deportation policy

The crackdown featured prominently after Trump’s return, with major operations in several cities and soaring arrests. Federal officers killed two U.S. citizens, Renee Good and Alex Pretti, during protests against the operations.

Democrats list oversight of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, along with the Department of Homeland Security, among their first priorities. Americans have also grown more negative toward the agency since those killings.

In July, support for the administration’s immigration record stood at 39 percent, 10 points lower than when the second term began. The Trump deportation policy sits at the centre of that slide.

Some Republicans voiced worries before the vote. Sen. John Cornyn said deporting people who had lived in the country for 15 or 20 years created a gray zone with divided opinions. Cornyn later lost his primary and then lost the general election to James Talarico.

Other remarks in the interview

Asked about 2028, Trump said he would “probably, not necessarily” endorse a successor. Trump named only Secretary of State Marco Rubio, whom he called great, and said he may be better off staying out.

The president also brushed aside questions about his wealth growing by $3 billion since he returned to the White House. He said he devotes almost no time to his net worth, and that his sons run the family business.

For now, the Trump deportation policy remains a test of whether the White House will soften its approach or double down.