Donald Trump Concedes Immigration Enforcement Policies Hurt Republicans in Midterms

President Donald Trump conceded on Sunday that his strict immigration enforcement policies were too tough and damaged Republican candidates during last week's midterm elections.

The remarks aired during a CBS interview recorded on Friday following a historic electoral defeat that saw Democrats secure majorities in both the House of Representatives and the Senate.

The political shift alters the balance of power in Washington and grants Democrats new authority to challenge administration policies and scrutinize federal spending.

“I think it was too tough...I think it might be too tough,” said President Donald Trump, speaking in the CBS interview.

Trump told CBS that he earned high marks for border security and removing criminals, but acknowledged negative fallout from deporting workers who had integrated into communities.

“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,” said Trump, according to CBS and NBC News.

The president also pointed to economic anxiety and the war in Iran as factors in the election outcome, though he defended military action against Tehran.

Vice President JD Vance had previously blamed the conflict in Iran for Republican losses, a post-mortem that Trump partially endorsed while noting internal disagreement.

“A lot of people didn’t like his comments, but not me,” said Trump, according to the New York Post.

Despite his softened tone on immigration, Trump recently appointed hardline immigration adviser Stephen Miller as White House chief of staff.

Department of Homeland Security officials insisted that enforcement operations would continue without slowdowns, according to reports from BBC and NBC News.

Trump expressed openness to working with congressional Democrats on future immigration legislation, leaving the scope of potential reforms uncertain.