In a television interview, Trump conceded that his administration's deportation policy may have gone further than it should have, and acknowledged the approach may have hurt Republicans in the midterm elections. The Guardian said: "I think it was too tough,"1 he 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."1 ABC News said: "I think it might be too tough, yeah."
NBC News headlined it "Trump tells ‘60 Minutes’ his deportation policy ‘was too tough’". New York Post headlined it "Trump backs away from hardline immigration policy after midterms blowout: ‘I think it was too tough’". Washington Examiner headlined it "Trump says deportation policy ‘too tough’ in push for bipartisan deal handing legal status to ‘good’ illegal immigrants". Breitbart headlined it "Trump Dangles Concessions, Says Deportation Policy ‘Too Tough’".
Reports pointed to voter data following the election. New York Post reported: "Just one in three Hispanic voters said they cast their ballot for a Republican in their respective US House race on Tuesday, while roughly four in ten voted for Trump two years ago, according to The AP Voter Poll of over 100,000 midterm voters."2 Breitbart noted: "For example, 57 percent of all Americans — and 79 percent of Republicans — want all illegal migrants sent home, according to a Harvard Harris poll in February 2026."3
Accounts also referenced the broader scale of the deportation effort and public sentiment surrounding it. Washington Examiner reported: "The White House has so far deported around 1 million people. Polling ahead of the midterm elections indicated Trump’s deportation moves have been unpopular with the majority of the public."4
The comment came even as Stephen Miller had taken on a chief of staff role, a pairing some found hard to reconcile. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer responded publicly, dismissing the remark as insincere and describing the appointment as an elevation rather than any change in direction. ABC News said: "Trump says his immigration crackdown went too far,"5 Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer scoffed on social media Sunday after the interview aired. "Apparently, his solution was to put the man responsible for it in charge of the White House. That’s not a course correction. That’s a promotion."5
Some accounts also cast doubt on the sincerity of the concession, pointing to a pattern in which prior proposals floated during negotiations with business groups and Democratic lawmakers were later abandoned amid pushback from supporters of strict enforcement. Breitbart wrote: "Trump has a long history of dangling vague immigration deals in his periodic negotiations with business groups and Democratic legislators, and later dropping the proposals amid the public pushback from his pro-enforcement base of ordinary Americans."3
Separately, it was reported that federal agents fatally shot two US citizens during operations in Minneapolis this year. The Guardian reported: "Federal agents fatally shot two US citizens, Renee Good and Alex Pretti, during operations in Minneapolis this year."1
