Trump admits deportation policy was 'too tough'

US President Donald Trump has admitted that his deportation policy was 'too tough'. He said so in an interview on the CBS network's 60 Minutes broadcast on Sunday.

Following the Republicans' disastrous defeat in the midterm elections, Trump also offered to strike an immigration deal with Democrats. He acknowledged that one of the defining policies of his second administration had become a political liability.

60 Minutes correspondent Ross Douthat asked him whether his deportation policy had gone too far. Trump replied, 'I think it was too tough. I think it might be too tough, yeah.'

He added that many people would say it was great. But many people think it was too tough. The president's comment was an unusually frank acknowledgment about one of the best-known policies of his second term.

His remark, however, seemed at odds with his decision on Friday to elevate Stephen Miller, the architect of his immigration crackdown, to White House chief of staff.

Since Trump returned to office, sweeping Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids at workplaces, homes and public spaces have ensnared people with no criminal records. Families have been separated and fear has spread in immigrant communities.

Earlier this year, federal agents fatally shot two US citizens, Renee Good and Alex Pretti, during operations in Minneapolis.

Trump said his policy 'both helped and hurt'. People gave him an 'A+ for closing up the border' and 'very high marks for getting the bad ones out'.

But he admitted: 'I get hurt because we also took people that had good jobs, that created one violation, or breaking of the law, and that was that they came into the country illegally.'

Trump said there were competing views in the country about whether undocumented immigrants should be deported or allowed to remain if they were working and paying taxes. Some people believed that 'they should be allowed to stay if they're good people working in a landscaping company' and 'in some cases, paying taxes'.

He said he believed an agreement with Democrats was achievable, allowing some long-term undocumented residents to stay while continuing to remove people convicted of serious crimes.

He proposed targeting killers, rapists and drug dealers while making an accommodation for people who had been in the country for 10 or 15 years.

Trump said, 'Let the people that are here, and in some cases here for 10 and 15 years, work a deal for them.' He described the proposal as something that could be negotiated.

He said Democrats seemed receptive to a compromise and that some had already contacted him. Asked whether he could refrain from name-calling for six months to secure an agreement, he replied: 'Very easily.'

Trump also blamed the war with Iran and higher petrol prices for much of the Republicans' midterm defeat, agreeing with an assessment by his vice-president, JD Vance.

He also cited what he described as growing dislike of Israel. But he maintained that the military campaign had been justified and said he would make the same decision again.