President Donald Trump’s reference to a deal for some immigrants who have spent 10 or 15 years in the United States has prompted an amnesty dispute, with the White House pushing back on that description.
Trump made the comments in a 60 Minutes interview that aired Sunday, while discussing Republicans’ losses in the midterm elections. Asked whether immigration enforcement had hurt Republicans, he said it had “both helped and hurt.” He said he earned an “A-plus” for closing the border and praised removing people he called “the bad ones.” He also said the crackdown affected people with jobs whose single violation was entering the country illegally.
In the same exchange, Trump discussed legal status for workers and a possible deal for some people who had been in the country for 10 or 15 years. He cited landscaping and hotel workers, including some who paid taxes, as examples of people whom a large group believed should be allowed to stay. He did not specify eligibility or further terms.
The disagreement then moved to X: The White House rapid response account disputed an amnesty interpretation because Trump had not used that word, while a Community Note on its post treated his deal remark as equivalent to amnesty.
Conservative podcaster Megyn Kelly posted, “And now amnesty. Seriously?” The Independent reported that Minnesota state Sen. Michael Holmstrom described a possible deal as “a betrayal.”
The remarks add to a broader post-election debate among Trump allies over the party’s direction, which EconoTimes previously covered. A Fox News poll conducted in September found 53% of voters said the Trump administration had gone too far on immigration enforcement. The Associated Press called Democratic control of both the House and Senate after the midterm elections.
