Trump says his immigration policy ‘too tough’ after midterm drubbing

US President Donald Trump acknowledged that his immigration policy was “too tough” after a severe drubbing in the midterm elections and said he was ready to work with the Democratic Party in the years ahead.

Democrats won control of both the House of Representatives and the Senate in the November 3 midterm elections, flipping several Republican-held seats in a sweeping setback for Trump.

The results reflected voter dissatisfaction with his handling of the immigration issue, the economy, the Iran war and rising living costs.

“I think it was too tough. I think it might be too tough,” Trump told CBS’ 60 Minutes in response to a question on his administration’s deportation policy.

The interview was recorded on Friday and telecast on Sunday evening.

Soon after the interview was recorded, Trump appointed Stephen Miller, known for his strong views against immigration, as his Chief of Staff, raising questions about whether the President would significantly soften his approach.

Asked about the reasons for Republicans’ resounding defeat, Trump echoed the conventional wisdom that it was due to the Iran war and gas prices, while also pointing to hostility towards Israel as a factor.

“They didn’t like the war,” Trump said. “They didn’t like the fact that gasoline went up because I had it down at a low. And there’s a great dislike, incredibly, for Israel.”

The President said his immigration crackdown had “both helped and hurt” him at the polls.

Trump said he believed he “got an A+ for closing up the border” and “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, or breaking of the law, and that was that they came into the country illegally,” he said.

“Now, there is a large part of the country that thinks that they should be put out. And there’s a large part of the country that thinks 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.

“I think it was too tough,” the Republican leader reiterated.

Asked what he thought would happen after his death, Trump said, “I hope I’m missed.”

He also described himself as a “religious person” and said he hoped to go to heaven.

(PTI)

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