Trump’s Immigration Remarks Spark ‘Betrayal’ Cries From MAGA, but the White House Says He Never Said ‘Amnesty’
President Donald Trump’s suggestion that he could work with the incoming Democratic Congress on legal status for some illegal immigrants has set off a revolt among some of his loudest supporters, who are calling it amnesty and a betrayal.
The uproar followed Trump’s Sunday “60 Minutes” interview with Ross Douthat. Asked what he would like to work on with a Democratic majority, Trump said, “I’d love to do something on immigration,” according to the CBS News transcript.
Trump said the crackdown “both helped and hurt.” He said he got “an A-plus for closing up the border” but was hurt “because we also took people that had good jobs that committed one violation,” Mediaite reported.
“If they’re good people working in a landscaping company or working in a hotel or doing something right, in some cases paying taxes, there is a large group of people who think that they should be allowed to stay,” Trump said.
‘Betrayer in Chief’
Commentator Tomi Lahren wrote on X, “I’m kind of confused because I voted for no endless wars and mass deportations but feels like I’m getting endless wars and amnesty… I hope I’m wrong.” The post had more than 636,000 views by Monday, according to X’s count.
James Fishback, who lost the Republican primary for Florida governor, called Trump the “Betrayer in Chief,” while Gateway Pundit writer Cassandra MacDonald called the remarks an “Unbelievable betrayal,” the Daily Beast reported.
The Daily Wire’s Matt Walsh argued that “the policy was not too tough,” Rolling Stone reported. “There need to be more deportations, not fewer,” Walsh wrote.
The Federalist’s Brianna Lyman wrote that “Trump is describing amnesty,” and commentator Steve Deace warned, “If he does this it will split the party in half and there is no hope of winning in 2028,” the Western Journal reported.
The Washington Examiner reported that conservative commentators and MAGA figures balked at Trump’s comment that he would “love” to work with Democrats on legal status for illegal immigrants who have no criminal records.
White House Pushes Back
The White House’s rapid response team rejected the framing. “Wrong. The word ‘amnesty’ was never even said in this entire exchange,” the account posted in reply to a post from The Blaze saying Trump may work on an amnesty deal with Democrats.
“There has never been a President stronger on immigration enforcement than President Trump,” a White House official told the Daily Beast, adding that more than 3 million illegal immigrants have left the country. “We want Democrats to show their cards.”
Not every Republican objected. Rep. María Elvira Salazar, R-Fla., wrote, “Well done, Mr. President!” and said Trump could “bring Republicans and Democrats together to finally fix our broken immigration system,” the Western Journal reported.
Asked by Douthat whether people who want every illegal immigrant deported work in his administration, Trump said, “Well, there are a lot of those people,” adding that others favor getting “the killers out” while letting some long-term residents “work a deal.”
The interview was taped before Trump named Stephen Miller, the architect of his hardline deportation agenda, as White House chief of staff.
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