Verified reporting
Verified reporting: what the President said
In his first sit-down interview since last Tuesday’s midterm elections, President Donald Trump told CBS’s 60 Minutes that his administration’s deportation policy may have gone too far. The interview with correspondent Ross Douthat was recorded at the White House on Friday, November 6, and aired Sunday evening, November 8. CBS published a full transcript.
Asked whether immigration hurt Republicans at the polls, the President said it “both helped and hurt.” He said he “got an A+ for closing up the border” and gets “very high marks for getting the bad ones out.” He added that he was hurt because the administration “also took people that had good jobs” whose one violation was that “they came into the country illegally.”
When Douthat asked whether his deportation policy went too far, the transcript shows Mr. Trump answering “Too tough,” and then, when pressed, “I think it might be too tough, yeah.” Asked what a deal with Democrats would look like, he said “we would work something out” and that it is “something that’s actually doable.” He described one approach as getting “the killers out” and “the drug dealers out,” while letting people who have been here “ten and 15 years” work out a deal. He also said he would “love to do something on immigration” with the new Democratic majorities, and, asked whether Democrats would be interested, said “People have already called me.”
The President did not use the word amnesty, and he did not describe a specific bill, a legal status, or any change in enforcement orders. Those details do not exist yet. Critics online have labeled his comments an amnesty signal; that is their characterization, not his words.
Legal / factual context
Context: the election and a personnel change
Republicans lost control of both the House and the Senate in last Tuesday’s elections, so Democrats will run both chambers when the new Congress convenes in January. CBS reported that GOP support fell sharply in South Texas and other heavily Latino areas, and that 58 percent of voters in exit polling said the administration’s immigration actions had gone too far. The same exit poll found voters still trusted Republicans slightly more than Democrats on handling immigration, 43 percent to 41 percent.
About an hour after the interview, according to CBS, the President replaced chief of staff Susie Wiles with Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, widely viewed as the architect of the administration’s deportation agenda. The White House has not announced any change to enforcement policy. Politico and the Associated Press reported that the remarks frustrated immigration hard-liners who worry about a deal with Democrats.
Sources and reading
- 60 Minutes Transcript: Donald Trump, the 2026 post-midterm elections interview (CBS News, Nov. 8, 2026)
Primary source for all quotations in this article. - Trump says his deportation policy might have been “too tough” in 60 Minutes interview (CBS News, Nov. 8, 2026)
Exit poll figures, South Texas results and the Wiles to Miller change. - Trump says his deportation policy ‘might have been too tough’ (Associated Press)
- Trump says his deportation agenda was ‘too tough,’ repeating interest in a deal with Dems (Politico, Nov. 8, 2026)
Reporting above is based on the cited records. The section labeled “Our view” is editorial opinion. This article is not legal advice. Our Gadsden Flag is an independent brand, not a government or military organization.
Conservative commentary · Our view
Our View: Enforcement is not a bargaining chip
We give the President credit where it is earned. The border was closed after years of chaos, and removing violent criminals made American communities safer. Those were promises kept, and voters who sent him back to Washington in 2024 asked for exactly that.
But the law is not a mood. Immigration law was written by Congress, signed by presidents, and it binds everyone equally. It should not loosen because an election went badly, any more than it should tighten for show when the polls look good. If the rule is that a decade of unlawful presence earns forgiveness, then the next decade of border crossers will hear that message loud and clear. Americans have seen this movie before. The 1986 amnesty promised enforcement in exchange for legalization; legalization arrived and enforcement never fully did.
We understand the human stories the President described. A hotel worker who has paid taxes for years is not a cartel smuggler, and conservatives should never pretend otherwise. Compassion and the rule of law are not enemies. Yet compassion that skips the rule of law is not mercy; it is an invitation to the next wave.
So here is our standard for any deal with a Democratic Congress. First, enforcement that is permanent in statute, not dependent on who sits in the Oval Office: mandatory E-Verify, real border infrastructure, and detention and removal capacity that cannot be quietly defunded. Second, no status questions until those measures are law and working. Third, every word debated openly, in committee and on the floor, with recorded votes. No midnight omnibus and no executive shortcuts. The Constitution gives Congress the power to establish a uniform rule of naturalization; let Congress own its choices in daylight.
The President’s new chief of staff is the strongest enforcement voice in the building. Whatever comes next, the test is simple. Does the deal make illegal entry rarer ten years from now, or more tempting? Patriots should hold every official, from either party, to that answer.