Trump Tells 60 Minutes His Deportation Crackdown "Both Helped and Hurt" Him at the Polls and May Have Been "Too Tough"

In a 60 Minutes interview recorded three days after Republicans’ midterm losses and reported by CBS News, President Trump said his immigration crackdown “both helped and hurt” him at the polls. “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,” he said. “I think it was too tough.” He said he would “love to do something on immigration” with congressional Democrats.

CBS News reported that it is unclear whether the administration plans to alter its enforcement strategy. On Friday, Trump had replaced White House chief of staff Susie Wiles with adviser Stephen Miller (2026-11-06–trump-names-stephen-miller-white-house-chief-of-staff-replacing-susie-wiles-after-midterm-losses), whom CBS described as widely viewed as an architect of the administration’s immigration policies.