A change in tone after Republican losses
Trump's comments aired on CBS' 60 Minutes on Sunday, November 8, following midterm elections in which Democrats won majorities in both the House and Senate. The interview was recorded November 6, the same day the White House announced Miller's appointment.
CBS correspondent Ross Douthat asked whether immigration enforcement had contributed to Republicans' November 3 losses. Trump acknowledged mixed political results while defending his administration's record on securing the southern border and removing dangerous criminals.
"I think it was too tough," Trump said. "I think it might be too tough, yeah. And a lot of people would say that it's great. But a lot of people think it's too tough."
The remarks depart from the emphasis of Trump's 2024 campaign, when he repeatedly pledged to deport millions of undocumented immigrants. Asked about priorities he could pursue with Democrats during his final two years in office, he identified immigration as a possible subject for compromise.
Trump suggested allowing some undocumented immigrants to stay, citing people who follow the law, pay taxes and contribute to their communities. He offered no details about how a deal would operate and made no commitment to halt deportations of the workers he described.
Miller's promotion and the enforcement record
Miller formally became the 33rd White House chief of staff on Monday, November 9, succeeding Susie Wiles. His promotion puts a longtime advocate of stringent immigration enforcement in charge of the president's staff just as Trump is voicing reservations about that approach.
Wiles submitted her resignation on Thursday night, November 5. Axios reported that the departure was a mutual decision prompted by the midterm results, for which Trump blamed her. She had offered to quit for two days before submitting her resignation, according to the report.
An influential Trump adviser for a decade, Miller has pressed hardline immigration policies since the 2016 campaign. In his previous job as deputy chief of staff for policy, he helped develop the mass deportation program. Reuters reported that he urged immigration authorities to seek as many as 3,000 arrests a day, including undocumented immigrants who had spent years in the United States.
Arrests and deportations have not risen together. Preliminary government figures reviewed by Reuters showed nearly 51,000 ICE arrests in August 2026, the third consecutive month to set a record, while deportations remained largely stable at about 1,200 a day. Fewer than a quarter of those arrested in July had criminal convictions, compared with nearly 60% in December 2024.
Trump has not explained whether his concerns will lead to a narrower enforcement agenda or how Miller would carry out such a change.
Possible terms and immediate resistance
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin followed Trump's remarks with an opening of his own on Monday, November 9. At a conference in Maryland, Mullin told reporters that Trump had encouraged him to work with Democrats who had approached the administration about immigration reform. He ruled out blanket amnesty but said the administration was open to movement on programs such as DACA.
House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, who is on track to become speaker, outlined a starting point in a CBS interview that Monday. He said negotiations should begin with the Dream and Promise Act to restore protections for DACA and Temporary Protected Status recipients, providing a foundation for broader work.
Conservative and MAGA figures responded to Trump's interview by denouncing a possible deal as "amnesty." The 31-member House Freedom Caucus said in a November 9 post that it opposed any effort to offer amnesty to undocumented immigrants. That reaction underscores the resistance a legal-status proposal would face among the Republican Party's substantial hardline immigration bloc.
Past attempts have also encountered opposition within Congress. According to TIME, the last comprehensive immigration reform bill seriously considered by both chambers came in 2013, during Barack Obama's second term. TIME reported that far-right Republicans in the House, led by then-Rep. Jeff Sessions and his chief of staff, Stephen Miller, killed the bill.
Trump offered another framework in his 2018 State of the Union address, proposing a pathway to citizenship for an estimated 1.8 million people eligible for DACA. That measure failed in the House when 112 Republicans joined all House Democrats in voting against it.
Polls distinguish deportation goals from tactics
Public surveys show support for deportations alongside objections to the administration's methods. In a Reuters/Ipsos poll, 61% supported deporting undocumented immigrants, while 60% said immigration enforcement had gone too far.
A Marquette Law School poll found a similar distinction: 56% supported deportations generally, but support dropped to 44% when the question concerned longtime residents who held jobs and had no criminal records.
Other polling points to concerns beyond immigration in the midterm election. A Reuters/Ipsos survey found that 48% of registered voters identified the cost of living as their top election concern, compared with 13% who chose immigration. It also found that 55% of respondents believed the Iran war was not worth its cost.
