Trump tells 60 Minutes his deportation policy “might be too tough” and hurt Republicans in the midterms

Created: 2026-11-09T06:38:40-05:00 (America/New_York)
Last updated: 2026-11-09T06:38:40-05:00 (America/New_York)

Of 90 headlines, 21 said Trump called the policy “too tough” or “too far,” and 7 kept his “might” or “may.” One mentioned that he said it also helped him.

President Trump sat for his first interview since Republicans lost the House and Senate with CBS’s Ross Douthat at the White House on Friday, Nov. 6. 60 Minutes aired it Sunday night, Nov. 8, and CBS posted a transcript and an extended interview. Asked whether his deportation policy had gone too far, Trump said, “Too tough,” then, “I think it might be too tough, yeah,” and said that “ultimately … hurt me.” He also said the crackdown “both helped and hurt” and called an immigration deal with Democrats “actually doable.”

What the record shows

• Why he says Republicans lost: “Number one, I was not on the ballot.” He said voters “didn’t like the war. They didn’t like the fact that gasoline went up … and there’s a great dislike, incredibly, for Israel.” Asked whether people voted against him, he said, “I think they didn’t vote, really. I think in some cases, they didn’t like the candidates” (CBS transcript).
• Immigration, in full: “I think it both helped and hurt. I think I got an A+ for closing up the border. I get very high marks for getting the bad ones out. But I get hurt because we also took people that had good jobs … And there’s a large part of the country that think that they should be allowed to stay if they’re good people working in a landscaping company, or workin’ in a hotel.” Then Douthat asked whether the policy went too far: “Too tough.” “It was too tough?” “I think it might be too tough, yeah” (CBS transcript). The extended transcript adds: “And a lotta people would say that it’s great. But a lotta people think it’s too tough.”
• A deal with Democrats: “The deal would be we would work something out. … I think that’s something that’s actually doable.” He said “get the killers out … But let the people that are here, and in some cases here for ten and 15 years, work a deal for them,” and that Democrats had “already called me.” Asked whether people “on the sort of pretty far right that would like everybody taken out” work in his administration, he said “Yes” and “there’re a lotta those people” (CBS transcript). He did not name anyone.
• Staff changes: Asked whether he expected to fire anyone, Trump said, “I do. Yeah. … Little bit,” and “maybe a few changes.” 60 Minutes reported that the first change came an hour after the interview, when Stephen Miller, whom it called “the architect of the president’s mass deportation policy,” replaced Susie Wiles as chief of staff. It said the move “seems to conflict with the president’s professed desire to work with Democrats on immigration.”
• Vance, Iran and Hegseth: Asked about Vice President JD Vance’s post saying “the reason we lost is the war,” Trump said, “I don’t disagree with it,” but said he would make the Iran decision again, “an emphatic yes.” He said he was “not looking to” escalate the war. He said he has confidence in Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth (CBS transcript).
• Wealth and enemies: On a Forbes report that his net worth rose $3 billion, he said, “I devote almost no time to my net worth.” Asked whether he could forgive his enemies to enter paradise, he said, “I probably cannot do that, no, because I do hate some of my enemies and I always will” (CBS transcript).

How we counted: Google News search for Trump and “60 Minutes,” Nov. 8–9, duplicates removed by outlet and title, keeping headlines about the interview. That gave 90 headlines. 21 said “too tough” or “too far”; 9 used admit, admits or concedes; 7 kept “might” or “may” (among them the NYT, AP, CNN and Fox News); 7 used hurt; 1 mentioned that the policy helped; none mentioned the “A+” for the border. 14 led with hell, heaven, death, forgiveness or enemies; 8 mentioned Iran; 5 mentioned his wealth; 3 named Miller. The CBS transcript was No. 1 on the signed-out Google News Top feed this morning; Yahoo’s RSS led its No. 2 item with Trump saying his supporters likely didn’t vote.

Trump’s words are on tape and in CBS’s transcript. The headlines simplified them in one direction. He hedged: “might be too tough,” “both helped and hurt,” “a lotta people would say that it’s great.” Most headlines dropped the hedge and wrote that he called the policy “too tough” or admitted it went too far. One mentioned that he said it helped. The other big item from the interview was his line about hating his enemies. His claims that the Iran war, gas prices, Israel and low turnout cost Republicans got far less play than the immigration quote.

What questions the legacy media missed

• Admission or hedge? He said “too tough,” then “might be too tough,” then said many people think the policy is “great.” Most headlines picked the strongest version of the quote.
• Who did he mean? He said people on the “pretty far right” who want everyone deported work in his administration and that there are “a lotta those people.” He named no one, and none of the headlines counted here asked who.
• Why promote Miller an hour later? 60 Minutes noted the tension itself. Three of the 90 headlines named Miller.
• What is the deal? Douthat asked about “some kind of legal status.” Trump said “yeah” and talked about long-time workers, but he gave no terms, no bill and no timeline.
• Is turnout the story? He said his voters “didn’t vote, really.” No turnout figures were cited in the interview.

Primary sources

• CBS News / 60 Minutes: broadcast transcript (Nov. 8)
• CBS News: full extended interview transcript
• AP: Trump says deportation policy “might have been too tough”
• Fox News: extended-interview quotes on the border and “25 million”

How outlets framed it

Outlet headlines from today’s scout and searches — their words, not ours.

• NBC News: “Trump says deportations were ‘too tough’ and hurt him during the midterms”
• The Guardian: “Trump admits deportation policy was ‘too tough’ despite promotion of Stephen Miller”
• The Washington Post: “‘60 Minutes’ takeaways: Trump calls deportation policy ‘too tough’”
• BBC: “Trump says immigration crackdown was ‘too tough’ and played part in midterms defeat”
• The New York Times: “Trump Says Immigration Crackdown May Have ‘Hurt’ Republicans in Midterms”
• AP: “Trump says his deportation policy ‘might have been too tough’ for voters in the election”
• Fox News: “Trump admits immigration enforcement may have been too ‘tough’ in first interview since midterms”
• CNN: “Trump suggests he would rather go to hell than forgive enemies”
• USA Today: “Trump says he won’t forgive his enemies, even to get into heaven”
• The Daily Beast: “Trump ‘60 Minutes’ Interview Goes Off Rails With Wild Death Questions”
• Deadline: “Trump’s ‘60 Minutes’ Interview Was A Mixture Of Denial, Contradiction”