Donald Trump said his deportation policy was “too tough” and suggested he would be open to striking an immigration deal with Democrats, an acknowledgment that came after Republicans suffered a difficult defeat in the midterm elections.
In an interview on the CBS network’s 60 Minutes, which aired on Sunday, the president said the aggressive enforcement effort had hurt him politically. He also said he was open to a plan that could allow some undocumented immigrants to remain in the country.
Mr. Douthat asked Trump whether the deportation policy had gone too far. “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 president’s comments represented an unusually candid acknowledgment that one of the defining policies of his second administration had become a political liability. They came, however, as he was also weighing a decision to elevate Stephen Miller, the architect of his immigration crackdown, to White House chief of staff.
Since Mr. Trump returned to office, sweeping immigration enforcement raids at workplaces, homes and public spaces have affected people without criminal records, separated families and created fear in immigrant communities. Federal agents fatally shot two U.S. citizens, Renee Good and Alex Pretti, during operations in Minneapolis earlier this year.
Mr. Trump said his policy “both helped and hurt,” pointing to public support for closing the border and removing people he described as dangerous. But he acknowledged that his team had also detained people who had not committed serious crimes and had entered the country without authorization.
He said there were differing views in the country about whether undocumented immigrants should be deported or allowed to remain if they were working and paying taxes. Some people, he said, believed that certain undocumented immigrants who were working and paying taxes should be permitted to stay.
Mr. Trump said he believed a deal with Democrats was achievable, allowing some long-term undocumented residents to remain while continuing to remove people convicted of serious crimes. He proposed targeting killers, rapists and drug offenders while making accommodations for people who had lived in the country for 10 or 15 years.
“Let the people that are here, and in some cases here for 10 and 15 years, work a deal for them,” he said, adding that the proposal was negotiable. “I think that’s something that’s actually doable.”
Mr. Trump suggested that Democrats were receptive to a compromise and said some had already contacted him. When asked whether he could refrain from name-calling for six months to secure an agreement, he replied: “Very easily.”
Mr. Trump also blamed the war with Iran and higher oil prices for much of the Republican midterm defeat, agreeing with an assessment by Vice President JD Vance that the conflict had been a major factor. He also cited growing dislike of Israel.
He maintained that the military campaign had been justified and said he would make the same decision again. “My answer is an emphatic yes because you can’t let Iran have a nuclear weapon,” he said.
Mr. Trump insisted that the war had been won and predicted that Tehran would eventually negotiate a deal. He acknowledged that the military campaign might not have been popular in the short term, saying: “I think historically, this will be a very good decision. Is it a good decision for today and tomorrow? Maybe not.”
He said he was not looking to escalate the conflict after the midterms.
On the economy, the president conceded that his administration had failed to communicate its achievements effectively, despite repeatedly claiming that employment, investment and stock market figures were at record levels. “I think it was bad messaging, maybe by me,” he said.
Mr. Trump signaled openness to safeguards for artificial intelligence, despite previously favoring allowing technology companies to police themselves rather than imposing sweeping government restrictions. “I don’t mind guardrails,” he told 60 Minutes. “But I don’t wanna put us in a deep second position.”
The interview also raised questions about the substantial increase in Mr. Trump’s personal wealth since he returned to the White House.
Mr. Douthat cited a Forbes estimate that Mr. Trump’s net worth had increased by $3 billion from the autumn of 2024 to the autumn of 2025. Mr. Trump initially suggested that the increase reflected the general performance of the stock market and said his finances were managed by his son.
When asked about his family’s cryptocurrency business, World Liberty Financial, in which he was a co-owner and which attracted investment from people connected to the United Arab Emirates, Mr. Trump defended the arrangement by saying: “I know nothing about it.”
But Dan Alexander, a Forbes senior editor who calculates the net worth of wealthy individuals for the magazine, challenged Mr. Trump’s explanation in a lengthy thread on X, arguing that the president’s increased fortune could not be explained simply by stock market gains.
Mr. Alexander identified several sources, including cryptocurrency ventures that generated more than $1 billion in proceeds and the appreciation of tokens retained by Mr. Trump, overseas licensing agreements that expanded the value of his branding business, and the removal of an almost $500 million financial penalty in his New York civil fraud case.
Mr. Trump also offered a glimpse of the Republican succession battle ahead of the 2028 presidential election, saying he might endorse a candidate but had not decided whether to intervene. Asked whether he expected to endorse a successor, Mr. Trump replied: “Probably. Not necessarily.”
He described the Republican Party as having a strong field of potential candidates and praised Secretary of State Marco Rubio while declining to rule out other contenders.
The president said his endorsement would carry considerable weight but suggested he might be better off staying out of the contest. He also expressed confidence that the “Make America great again” movement could survive without him as its leader, describing its defining principles as strong borders and a strong military.
At the end of the interview, Mr. Trump was asked whether he could forgive political opponents, including former FBI Director James Comey and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, even before the judgment of God. Mr. Trump said: “The answer is no. I want to be honest, no.”
Mr. Douthat followed up: “Mr. President. You have had the most charmed and remarkable life of any American in my entire lifetime and you are telling me that before the judgment throne of God you couldn’t find it in your heart to forgive some of your enemies? After all that’s been given to you? Come on. Help me out here.”
But Mr. Trump remained adamant, insisting: “I probably cannot do that, no, because I do hate some of my enemies and I always will.”
Mr. Douthat then noted that many presidents are remembered with a single line such as “He freed the slaves” or “He won the cold war” and asked what line would be remembered for Mr. Trump’s presidency.
The president said simply: “That I made America great again.”
