Trump reflects on midterm losses in ‘60 Minutes’ interview, says deportation policy may have been ‘too tough’

President Donald Trump weighed in on Republicans’ midterm losses in a “60 Minutes” interview that aired Nov. 8, saying his administration’s deportation policy might have been “too tough” and the Iran war hurt his party politically while defending his economic record and suggesting he could reach an immigration deal with Democrats.

Speaking with CBS News’ Ross Douthat at the White House Nov. 6, Trump said immigration enforcement had “both helped and hurt” Republicans at the polls.

“I think I got an A-plus for closing up the border,” the President said. “I get very high marks for getting the bad ones out, but I get hurt because we also took people that had good jobs that created one violation for breaking of the law, and that was that they came into the country illegally.”

“Now, there is a large part of the country that think that they should be put out,” Trump continued. “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 working in a hotel, or doing something, right? And in some cases, paying taxes.”

He added that his deportation policy “might be too tough” and floated a potential deal with the incoming Democratic majorities in Congress that would continue removing people he described as killers, drug dealers, and other serious criminals while allowing some illegal immigrants who have lived and worked in the country for years to stay, compromising on other elements of his longtime immigration policy. 

“The deal would be, we would work something out,” he said. “And I think that’s something that’s actually doable.” 

Trump’s decision to elevate Stephen Miller, a longtime architect of the administration’s immigration agenda, may send a different message. Shortly after the interview, he announced Miller would replace Susie Wiles as White House chief of staff starting Nov. 9.

>> Trump names Stephen Miller as chief of staff to replace Susie Wiles <<

The remarks also drew criticism from some conservatives, including CatholicVote’s political adviser Steve Cortes, who warned against easing enforcement and cited Trump’s campaign promises to carry out mass deportations. 

“If President Trump softens on immigration enforcement, it will be a disaster,” Cortes wrote in an X post, adding in a follow-up post that an amnesty deal with Democrats “would be a bigger betrayal than starting the foolish war in Iran.”

>> ANALYSIS | Immigration enforcement is not responsible for Republicans’ midterm defeat <<

Trump reflects on Iran war

During the interview, Trump also addressed the scale of Republicans’ defeat. According to CBS News exit polling, about 63% of midterm voters disapproved of Trump’s job performance.

Trump attributed Republican losses in part to the Iran war and higher gasoline prices. 

“They didn't like the war. They didn't like the fact that gasoline [prices] went up cause I had it down at a low,” he said of voters. “And there's a dislike, incredibly, for Israel.”

Vice President JD Vance had pointed to the conflict the morning after the election, writing on X that the “real reason we lost is obvious to almost everyone — the broadly unpopular Iran war.”

>> After midterm ‘blue wave,’ conservative reactions cite Iran war, abortion, cost of living as loss factors <<

Trump said he didn’t disagree with Vance’s assessment but argued that attacking Iran was still the right decision. Asked whether he would do it again, he said his answer was an “emphatic yes,” arguing that the attacks had set back Iran’s nuclear program.

“I think historically, this will be a very good decision. Is it a good decision for today and tomorrow? Maybe not? But … I have to go with what's right for our country,” he said. “If they had a nuclear weapon during my term, I would be excoriated far worse than what's happened.”

Asked whether he planned to escalate the war now that the midterms are over, Trump said: “Well, I’m not looking to. I don’t think there’s any reason to.”

‘Bad messaging’ on the economy

On the economy, Trump defended his record, describing the numbers as “phenomenal” and pointing to retirement account gains.

“We're doing numbers that have never been done before. 401(k)s are at their all-time high by a lot. Under other presidents, they were a disaster. 401(k)s have made people rich,” the President said. 

When Douthat noted that not all Americans have large retirement accounts, Trump replied, “But a lot of people do.”

The NBC News exit poll found that 75% of voters viewed the economy negatively and 65% said Trump’s policies had made economic conditions worse. Voters had also ranked the economy as one of their most important considerations heading into midterms.

Trump argued that his administration had failed to communicate its economic accomplishments, saying that “we couldn’t get the word across.” 

“I think it was bad messaging, maybe by me, but I would talk about it all the time,” he said. “So I don't know, how much can I talk about it?”

He predicted that Americans would see improvements “in the next two, three, four months,” arguing his policies would lead to a resurgence of manufacturing jobs.

Personnel changes, potential successors, and pardons

Trump, who spoke with Douthat shortly before announcing Wiles’ departure, also hinted at impending personnel changes. He said that while he loves his Cabinet, he’ll “be doing maybe a few changes.”

He defended War Secretary Pete Hegseth, whom some lawmakers have threatened to impeach over his perceived role in the Iran war. 

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., who may be House Speaker come January, said Nov. 8 that he is a “hard yes” when it comes to impeaching Hegseth, and Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., gave formal notice of an impeachment resolution against the secretary on the House floor Nov. 9. 

Asked about the impeachment effort, Hegseth told reporters Nov. 9 he would hold a press conference from the Pentagon the following morning on the topic.

“Very unfair,” Trump said of the impeachment talk. “We had two wars, we won both. We won Venezuela, we won Iran.”

Asked about endorsing a Republican successor, Trump said he has a “tremendous bench” including Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio but left open whether he would intervene, saying he “probably” would but “not necessarily.” He also pointed to “some senators that are excellent.”

“I may or may not get involved. I don't know,” he said. “Maybe I'm better off not getting involved. I think it would play a big role if I did, because my endorsement capacity has been very strong.”

Trump said he intended to issue “tremendous numbers of pardons,” arguing that people serving in his administration should not have to spend years defending themselves against political opponents.

“I don't want to have good people that are serving this country and doing a great job spending the rest of their life, like I had to do for four years, defending myself by radical left lunatics, by people that were very nasty and mean,” he said.

As Zeale News previously reported, Democrats have outlined plans for sweeping investigations into Trump, his family, and administration officials. Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Calif., who is expected to chair the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, warned administration officials Nov. 5 to “lawyer up.”

>> After campaigning on affordability, Democrats outline plans to investigate Trump admin << 

Toward the end of the sit-down, Douthat asked Trump, who has survived multiple assassination attempts, what he thinks will happen when he dies.

“Well, I hope I'm missed,” he responded.

“Well, I'm a religious person, so in theory, I go to heaven," the President said. "I hope so. I don't want to go to hell."