Trump says on '60 Minutes' that deportation policy was 'possibly too tough' and is willing to reach an agreement with Democrats on people who have been in the U.S. for a long time
U.S. President Donald Trump said in a CBS 60 Minutes interview aired on November 8, 2026, that his administration's deportation policy was “possibly too tough” and acknowledged that it “ultimately hurt me.” The interview, hosted by Ross Douthat and recorded on Friday, was Trump's first major television interview since Republicans lost control of both chambers of Congress in the midterm elections.
Trump said he received high marks for closing the border and deporting people he called bad, but was hurt by deporting people with good jobs whose only offense was entering the country illegally. He said some people believe that good people who work for landscaping companies or hotels and sometimes pay taxes should be allowed to stay. He distinguished between different views, saying a group that is pretty far right wants to throw everyone out, while the more moderate view is to deport killers, rapists, and drug dealers, but let the people who have been here, in some cases 10 years and 15 years, make a deal for them.
Trump said reaching such an agreement with Democrats was actually feasible and said people, including Democrats, had already contacted him. The White House later stressed that Trump never used the word amnesty. Shortly after the interview was recorded, Trump appointed Stephen Miller as White House chief of staff; Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said on Monday that no policy change had been discussed and opposed any amnesty.
Original source:
Title: Trump says his deportation policy was 'too tough' for voters Publisher: Associated Press Publication date: November 8, 2026 URL: https://apnews.com/article/trump-60-minutes-interview-immigration-73d62584b3ad81ef2f55742ee3ba4c35 Nature of source: mainstream media report Verification status: full text read, consistent with paraphrases of the interview quotes in multiple English-language media outlets Supporting content: Trump said the deportation policy may be too tough and hurt the election, said he was willing to reach an agreement with Democrats, and referred to long-term residents of 10-15 years and hotel/landscaping workers
ABAB AI Insight
This statement came after Republicans' midterm election losses, and it was Trump's first major television interview in which he directly linked the harshness of the deportation policy to the election result. He clearly distinguished between bad people (killers, rapists, drug dealers) and people with good jobs who were only violating the law by entering illegally, and used hotel workers and landscaping workers as examples to explain public resistance to their deportation. This contrasts with his previous public stance emphasizing mass deportations, but the interview did not provide specific legal mechanisms, timelines, or eligibility criteria.
The subsequent responses from the White House and cabinet officials show a difference in messaging. The White House emphasized that Trump did not use the word amnesty; Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin explicitly said that amnesty would never be allowed to happen and said he had not discussed policy changes with the president. Shortly after the interview was recorded, Trump appointed immigration hard-liner Stephen Miller as chief of staff, and Democratic leader Chuck Schumer commented that this was not a policy correction but a promotion of the person responsible for the policy. These signals appearing together increase uncertainty about any actual policy shift.
U.S. immigration reform has long been hindered by political resistance to the label amnesty. Republicans are highly sensitive to any proposal that grants legal status to people who have lived in the country illegally for a long time without a criminal record; Democrats have made ICE oversight and enforcement limits priorities for the new Congress. Trump's remark that people had already called him and that he is willing to work with Democrats including James Talarico suggests that he sees this as a possible negotiating issue, but no specific bill text or bipartisan working group has yet taken shape.
Historically, Trump supported legislation in his first term that would have provided a path for Dreamers who arrived in the U.S. as children, but it ultimately did not pass. The current remarks remain at the interview level, and future developments will depend on the composition of the new Congress, Miller's actual influence, and whether a solution acceptable to both sides emerges that provides legal status but not called amnesty. At this stage, the evidence only supports that Trump expressed openness and self-assessment in the interview; it cannot be equated with a formal policy change having begun or an agreement having been reached.
ABAB News · Cognitive Laws
After an election defeat, leaders directly linking the strength of a controversial policy to voter reaction is a common form of public reflection, but it does not automatically translate into an actionable legislative proposal.
The term amnesty carries strong polarizing effects in U.S. immigration politics; even when describing something similar, speakers often deliberately avoid the label in order to maintain support within their party.
When an interview statement, a cabinet appointment, and a minister's public clarification appear at the same time, the signals should be treated as coexisting and not yet implemented, rather than interpreted in a single direction.