The Latest: Trump says his deportation policy ‘might have been too tough’ for voters

President Donald Trump , in his first major interview since his party lost control of the House and Senate in the midterm elections, said he thinks his administration was too aggressive on deportations and that he thinks he can work with Democrats in the new Congress on some kind of immigration deal.

Trump and his Department of Justice are taking a combative stance toward Democrats, signaling intense conflict to come as lawmakers prepare aggressive investigations into the executive branch next year. Trump set the tone, declaring on social media that investigative requests already made by Democrats are “extortion at the highest level, and they should be held accountable.”

Trump said Sunday he was only kidding about making UFC boss Dana White his next White House press secretary after announcing on social media he had offered his close friend the job.

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Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Sunday that Trump launched the war against Iran even if it was not “necessarily popular” to safeguard the world from the country’s nuclear ambitions.

He would not comment directly about the Republican wipeout in Tuesday’s elections, which delivered a resounding rebuke to Trump. The unpopularity of the Iran war and its impact on gasoline prices and other parts of the economy helped Democrats seize control of Congress .

Asked about Vice President JD Vance’s social media post last week that largely blamed the war for the Republican losses , Rubio told reporters that Trump “identified a very real threat” in Iran and worked to stop the Islamic Republic from pursuing a nuclear weapon.

“He addressed it even though oftentimes the right thing to do for the country — confronting difficult challenges for the security of our country — doing it isn’t necessarily popular, but necessary,” Rubio said in Florida before heading to a Group of 7 foreign ministers meeting in Paris.

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Trump said Sunday he was only kidding about making UFC boss Dana White his next White House press secretary after announcing on social media he had offered his close friend the job.

After his party’s deep losses in Tuesday’s midterm elections , Trump shook up his administration on Friday by replacing his chief of staff and followed up on Saturday with a post that said he had offered the press secretary job to White. On Sunday, Trump said it was “just a little fun.”

“I was kidding, but I think Dana likes the idea, and he is a very capable guy,” Trump said, speaking to reporters in Florida before departing for the White House. White is set to visit him at the White House on Monday.

Trump does not currently have a press secretary after briefly giving the job to Katie Zacharia , who faltered behind the lectern and in interviews, and left the post after five days.

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Trump and his Department of Justice are taking a combative stance toward Democrats after their election victories in the midterms , signaling intense conflict to come as lawmakers prepare aggressive investigations into the executive branch next year.

Trump set the tone, declaring on social media that investigative requests already made by Democrats are “extortion at the highest level, and they should be held accountable.” Attorney General Todd Blanche echoed the Republican president and said criminal investigations of Democrats are possible.

“They are not allowed to just go around threatening existing members of the administration, to go around threatening companies, and that’s what President Trump is extremely worried about and he should be,” Blanche said as he and congressional Democrats appeared on the Sunday news shows to discuss the repercussions from last week’s elections.

Rep. Robert Garcia, who is poised to chair the powerful House Oversight Committee in the next Congress, is preparing investigations into what he calls the “Trump crime family.” He said Democrats are not going to be intimidated.

Democrats have made clear that impeachment is an option.

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President Donald Trump , in his first major interview since his party lost control of the House and Senate in the midterm elections, said he thinks his administration was too aggressive on deportations and that he thinks he can work with Democrats in the new Congress on some kind of immigration deal.

Trump said his deportation policy was part of the reason Republicans lost, telling CBS’s “60 Minutes” in an interview that aired on Sunday: “I think it might be too tough, yeah.”

He added that he thinks he could reach an agreement with the new Democratic majority. “The deal would be we would work something out. And I think it’s something -- I think that’s something that’s actually doable,” he said in the interview.

Trump did not give specifics about what that deal would look like — and shortly after taping the interview on Friday, Trump named the key architect of his hard-line immigration agenda, Stephen Miller, as his new chief of staff.

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