segunda-feira, 9 de novembro de 2026
Présidentielle 2027 : une primaire de la droite est-elle inéluctable ? / Presidential election 2027: is a right-wing primary inevitable?
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Présidentielle
2027 : une primaire de la droite est-elle inéluctable ?
Non, une
primaire de la droite et du centre n'est pas inéluctable pour l'élection
présidentielle de 2027, bien qu'elle fasse l'objet d'un vif débat politique et
d'une forte pression populaire au sein de l'électorat.
Un débat
clivant entre les candidats
La question
de l'organisation d'un tel scrutin divise profondément les principales figures
du bloc central et de la droite :
- Les partisans de la primaire : Gabriel Attal (Renaissance)
juge l'exercice « inéluctable » pour éviter une dispersion des voix et un
second tour opposant le Rassemblement national à La France insoumise. Bruno
Retailleau (Les Républicains) s'est également prononcé en faveur d'un
départage en début d'année 2027, posant toutefois des conditions
(notamment la participation d'Édouard Philippe et l'exclusion de
personnalités comme Raphaël Glucksmann). D'autres voix, comme Laurent
Wauquiez ou Gérald Darmanin, ont aussi plaidé pour l'émergence d'un
candidat unique.
- Les opposants : Édouard Philippe (Horizons)
refuse catégoriquement l'idée d'une primaire, qu'il qualifie de « machine
à perdre », de source de division et de confusion. Selon un accord
officieux évoqué entre certains acteurs, le moins bien placé des candidats
pourrait théoriquement se ranger derrière l'autre sans passer par une
primaire.
Un
décalage avec l'opinion des sympathisants
Selon une
enquête d'opinion publiée par Le Figaro en novembre 2026 :
- 74 % des sympathisants de droite
et du centre se
disent favorables à l'organisation d'une primaire pour désigner un
candidat unique.
- 60 % de ces sympathisants
estiment qu'un tel processus renforcerait le candidat vainqueur plutôt que
de l'affaiblir.
- Dans les tests d'appréciation,
des personnalités comme Bruno Retailleau ou David Lisnard obtiennent un
écho favorable auprès de cette base, tandis qu'Édouard Philippe connaît
une baisse dans les enquêtes d'intention de vote et de popularité interne.
Les
principaux obstacles pratiques et stratégiques
Plusieurs
freins majeurs rendent la concrétisation d'une telle primaire incertaine à
l'approche de l'échéance :
- Le périmètre et les règles : Trouver un accord sur le corps
électoral, le financement, les règles d'engagement (s'engager ou non à
soutenir le vainqueur) et les partis inclus (du
centre-gauche/social-démocrate type Glucksmann jusqu'aux Républicains).
- Le timing : À quelques mois du premier
tour, l'absence de structure commune opérationnelle et la méfiance
réciproque entre les écuries d'Édouard Philippe, de Gabriel Attal et de
Bruno Retailleau complacent toute mise en place rapide.
- Le souvenir des expériences
passées : Les
primaires de la droite et du centre de 2016 ou celles de la gauche ont
souvent laissé des partis meurtris par des luttes internes féroces, un
argument régulièrement avancé par les réticents
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Presidential
election 2027: is a right-wing primary inevitable?
No, a
primary of the right and the center is not inevitable for the 2027 presidential
election, although it is the subject of a lively political debate and strong
popular pressure within the electorate.
A
divisive debate between the candidates
The question
of the organisation of such an election deeply divides the main figures of the
central bloc and the right:
- Supporters of the primary:
Gabriel Attal
(Renaissance) considers the exercise "inevitable" to avoid a
dispersion of votes and a second round between the National Rally and La
France Insoumise. Bruno Retailleau (Les Républicains) also spoke in
favour of a tie-breaker at the beginning of 2027, but set conditions
(including the participation of Édouard Philippe and the exclusion of
personalities such as Raphaël Glucksmann). Other voices, such as Laurent
Wauquiez and Gérald Darmanin, also pleaded for the emergence of a single
candidate.
- Opponents: Édouard Philippe (Horizons) categorically
rejects the idea of a primary, which he describes as a "losing
machine", a source of division and confusion. According to an
unofficial agreement mentioned between some actors, the least well-placed
candidate could theoretically line up behind the other without going
through a primary.
A
discrepancy with the opinion of sympathizers
According to
an opinion poll published by Le Figaro in November 2026:
- 74% of right-wing and centrist
sympathizers
say they are in favor of organizing a primary to designate a single
candidate.
- 60% of these supporters believe
that such a process would strengthen the winning candidate rather than
weaken him.
- In the assessment tests,
personalities such as Bruno Retailleau or David Lisnard obtain a
favourable response from this base, while Édouard Philippe has experienced
a decline in the polls of voting intention and internal popularity.
The main
practical and strategic obstacles
Several
major obstacles make the realization of such a primary uncertain as the
deadline approaches:
- The perimeter and the rules: To find an agreement on the
electorate, the financing, the rules of engagement (whether or not to
commit to supporting the winner) and the parties included (from the
centre-left/social democrats such as Glucksmann to the Republicans).
- The timing: A few months before the first
round, the lack of a common operational structure and the mutual mistrust
between the teams of Édouard Philippe, Gabriel Attal and Bruno Retailleau
replace any quick set-up.
- Memories of past experiences: The primaries of the right and
center of 2016 or those of the left often left parties bruised by fierce
internal struggles, an argument regularly put forward by the reluctant
Marine Le Pen is coming after Kaja Kallas
Marine Le
Pen is coming after Kaja Kallas
The EU’s
diplomatic chief has clashed with Ursula von der Leyen and now the French
presidential frontrunner is joining in.
Kaja Kallas
reacts during a press conference in Vilnius on Sept. 7, 2026. | Petras
Malukas/AFP via Getty Images
November 9,
2026 4:00 am CET
By Clea Caulcutt and Nicholas Vinocur
https://www.politico.eu/article/marine-le-pen-is-coming-after-kaja-kallas/
PARIS — EU
diplomatic chief Kaja Kallas has another enemy who wants her out: Marine Le
Pen.
The
far-right French leader wants to dismantle, or at the very least drastically
reduce, the EU’s diplomatic arm if she wins the 2027 presidential election,
according to four National Rally officials.
“The reality
is that [Kallas’s] usefulness is very limited, and she duplicates the diplomacy
of member states,” said Charles-Henri Gallois, adviser to National Rally
President Jordan Bardella. “No one recognizes her legitimacy, particularly
not the United States, nor China.”
The comments
reveal growing tensions over the EU’s power as nationalist parties from France
to Germany and Poland seek to wrest power back from Brussels, with foreign
policy among their top targets. They also put
extra pressure on Kallas and the European External Action Service, which
has been locked in a protracted turf war on foreign policy with the European
Commission headed by Ursula von der Leyen.
The view
inside the National Rally is that the EU’s diplomatic service is not only a
waste of taxpayer money but also gets in the way of European nations being able
to flex their muscles on the world stage.
One example
is Ukraine, on which Kallas and Le Pen are deeply divided — although they
have not clashed publicly. The former Estonian prime minister is one of Russian
President Vladimir Putin’s fiercest critics and a staunch supporter of
Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy, while Le Pen is pushing for an international
peace conference to settle the conflict and says Europe has run out of money to
give to Kyiv.
Kallas has
“used very warrior-like language on Ukraine,” said National Rally MEP Jean-Paul
Garraud. “We support Ukraine but if we expressed ourselves like that we would
be in total war” with Russia, he said.
Le Pen has
directed her most vicious attacks against von der Leyen, who has long been
accused by the far right of exceeding her powers. But it’s Kallas and the EEAS
that risk becoming collateral damage under a far-right presidency in France.
Le Pen is
the front-runner ahead of next year’s presidential election. In a recent visit
to Brussels, she vowed
to downsize the European Union if she comes to power.
“France will
no longer accept that the Commission exercises diplomatic competences, and even
less military or intelligence competencies,” she told reporters. This shrinking
of EU institutions would include snipping the wings of the EEAS, according to
the four National Rally officials, who were granted anonymity to speak freely.
The move
would put the National Rally on a collision course with pro-European parties,
which see the EU’s diplomatic arm as an essential tool as the global stage
becomes more competitive and more aggressive.
Marine Le Pen greets the audience after a campaign rally in
Orléans, France on Oct. 25, 2026. | Quentin de Groeve/Hans Lucas/AFP via Getty
Images
“If Marine
Le Pen becomes president of France, she will quickly realise that … France is a
medium-sized country on the global stage,” said Irish Renew MEP Barry Andrews,
who chairs the European Parliament’s development committee.
“Without
the collective power of Europe, France has no chance going up against the U.S.
or China alone,” he said.
The EEAS
snapped back at the criticism. “Across Europe, the far right is against the
very idea of European cooperation,” said an EEAS spokesperson.
“EU
diplomacy defends European interests, including those of France. The EU’s
global delegation network is a major strategic asset,” the official told
POLITICO in response to Le Pen’s comments.
Money
matters
The push
against Kallas and her diplomats also comes as the National Rally limbers up
for a fight with the Commission over France’s EU budget contribution, if they
win the election. Last month, the National Rally unveiled its plans for a €11
billion cut to France’s EU contribution for 2027, which is currently
expected to total approximately €30 billion.
POLITICO’s Poll of
Polls puts Le Pen on 34% in the first round, well ahead of far-left leader
Jean-Luc Mélenchon on 17% and center-right hopeful Edouard Philippe on 16%.
Polls also suggest she would beat most of her potential rivals in a runoff.
A large screen displays the results of a vote during a
session of the National Assembly on the first-reading examination of the 2027
draft state budget bill in Paris on Nov. 4, 2026. | Ludovic Marin/AFP via Getty
Images
While France
could not unilaterally cut the EEAS’s budget, the National Rally says it sees
allies in Italy, in Spain’s nationalist party Vox (which could end up working
with the center-right after this month’s election), and in Andrej Babiš’s Czech
Republic.
The
offensive could get nasty as the Commission and Le Pen arm-wrestle over
money.
“The EEAS is
great for friends of friends, who want jobs,” said one National Rally official.
“The real estate bought or rented by the EEAS is a waste of money. I’m shocked
to see the amounts involved in local contracts; it’s unbelievable,” said a
National Rally MEP.
Le Pen’s
criticism coincides with criticism from European governments about the
efficiency of the EU’s foreign policy apparatus, with France and Germany
jointly pitching plans to reform the EEAS.
The concerns
voiced by senior diplomats in both countries focus on the fact that the EEAS
lacks policy tools to influence foreign relations. The Franco-German initiative
suggests integrating the EEAS with the Commission, which has a larger budget as
well as control over trade and tech policies.
It also
coincides with proposals to severely cut back on the EU’s foreign policy
budget. Commission officials have internally simulated slashing the bloc’s
Global Europe budget — worth €200 billion in the last long-term budget — by as
much as 40% in the next budget.
The EEAS
itself, which has an annual budget of close to €1 billion and employs
more than 5,200 people globally, is working on internal reforms that
Secretary-General Kajsa Ollongren is expected to present to staff later this
month.
Major budget
cuts would have the effect of gutting the EU’s network of more than 100 global
delegations, which are staffed by diplomats as well as Commission personnel
from external-facing units like DG MENA (the Directorate-General for the Middle
East, North Africa and the Gulf).
International
organizations have pushed back forcefully against plans to slash the EU’s
development aid budget, with United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres
writing to the heads of the Commission and Council and urging them to preserve
the funding.
Giorgio
Leali contributed reporting.
Rubio Warned Officials About Nvidia Chief’s Entanglement With Chinese Spy
Rubio
Warned Officials About Nvidia Chief’s Entanglement With Chinese Spy
The
secretary of state’s role in drafting a secret memo highlights how top
officials were concerned by this past spring about Jensen Huang’s relationship
with a woman tied to Chinese intelligence.
A memo
circulated this past spring warning top Trump administration officials that
Nvidia’s chief executive, Jensen Huang, was in a close relationship with a
Chinese spy.Credit...Lisi Niesner/Reuters
By Maggie HabermanJonathan SwanJulian E. Barnes and Tripp Mickle
The
reporters have been covering China’s spying on Nvidia and America’s artificial
intelligence industry.
Nov. 8,
2026
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/11/08/us/politics/rubio-nvidia-ceo-chinese-spy.html
Secretary
of State Marco Rubio oversaw the drafting of the
highly classified memo this past spring warning top Trump administration
officials that Nvidia’s chief executive, Jensen Huang, was in a close
relationship with a Chinese spy, multiple people briefed on the matter said.
The
document was based on classified intelligence from electronic surveillance of
Alice Huang, a Chinese citizen who was a senior executive at a Singapore-based
company that was buying Nvidia’s advanced artificial intelligence chips and
being investigated for illegally smuggling them into China. U.S. officials had
concluded that Ms. Huang was in a close relationship with the Nvidia chief, who
is no relation, and that she had been recruited to spy by China’s top
intelligence agency, the Ministry of State Security.
Mr.
Rubio’s involvement in warning administration officials about the situation has
not been previously reported. It highlights how concerns about the relationship
and the spying were known to senior officials even as Mr. Huang, a pivotal
figure in the explosive growth of A.I., remained an influential voice with Mr.
Trump over policy on the issue.
Mr. Huang
has opposed calls for more tightly regulating the export of the most advanced
A.I. chips and has pushed to be able to sell all but the most recently
developed technology to China, the main competitor to the United States in the
global rush for A.I. supremacy.
On
Sunday, Nvidia said it was opening
an investigation into Mr. Huang after he acknowledged that he had been
intimate with Ms. Huang, though the company said it had “no reason to believe
that either national security or Nvidia secrets were compromised.”
In a
message to the company, Mr. Huang apologized.
“I was
unfaithful to my wife,” he said. “My actions hurt her and our children. There
is no excuse for what I did. I am deeply sorry.”
A State
Department spokesman and a White House spokeswoman declined to comment.
Mr.
Rubio’s memo was circulated to administration officials with high-level
security clearances ahead of a trip Mr. Trump took to China in May, the people
briefed on the matter said. They spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss
sensitive material.
Despite
his status as an A.I. pioneer and head of one of the world’s most valuable
companies, Mr. Huang was initially left off the list of major business and tech
executives invited to join Mr. Trump in China. It is unclear whether the
exclusion was connected to the memo. By that point, a number of people inside
the administration were concerned about Mr. Huang’s influence on the
president’s policy of only lightly regulating A.I., people briefed on the
matter said.
After Mr.
Trump saw media coverage about Mr. Huang being absent from the delegation, the
president asked him to
join the trip by meeting Air Force One during a layover in Alaska. The
president drafted a social media post saying that it was an honor to have “the
Great Jensen Huang,” and other business leaders “journeying to the Great
Country of China where I will be asking President Xi, a Leader of extraordinary
distinction, to ‘open up’ China so that these brilliant people can work their
magic.”
The New
York Times reported
last month that Mr. Trump was briefed roughly a year ago that the U.S.
intelligence community had electronic surveillance of Ms. Huang, and believed
that she was an operative working for China’s intelligence services. The
surveillance revealed a close relationship between Ms. Huang and a U.S.
citizen. When officials asked for the name of the U.S. citizen to be “unmasked”
— given Americans’ identities are routinely protected from foreign surveillance
— it was revealed to be the Nvidia chief executive.
The
president chose at that point not to take any action. He has viewed Nvidia’s
chips as integral to America’s competition with China in A.I. He sees Nvidia’s
success as crucial to maintaining a robust stock market.
Asked
about Mr. Huang’s admission to his company about his affair with Ms. Huang, Mr.
Trump told reporters on Sunday evening that he did not regret his own lack of
action.
“No, I
don’t think so,” the president said. He added that he believed Mr. Huang should
stay on as Nvidia’s chief executive.
“I think
he’s an honorable guy. I think he probably has an excuse for it. You have to
hear it,” Mr. Trump said.
Ms. Huang
speaks English well and has relationships with executives at the highest levels
of the A.I. chip industry, including with Mr. Huang and the leaders of
Gigabyte, one of the top assemblers of Nvidia supercomputers, people who have
met her said.
It is
unclear when Ms. Huang first met Nvidia’s leader. In 2024, around the time the
two of them were photographed together with other industry executives at a bar
in Taipei, her company, Megaspeed,
began a multibillion-dollar purchase of advanced A.I. microchips.
Nvidia
officials have said that Mr. Huang’s interactions with Ms. Huang were “not
unusual or unexpected” and consistent with the kinds of meetings he has with
any of Nvidia’s many customers. The company has also said customers like
Megaspeed do not receive classified business information.
In recent
years, Megaspeed, despite having essentially a storefront office and little
local footprint, purchased $2 billion worth of Nvidia’s products. Megaspeed
builds data centers in Southeast Asia that rent out their computing power to
Alibaba, the giant Chinese internet company. U.S. officials suspect Megaspeed
has been helping smuggle restricted advanced Nvidia chips into China.
Ms. Huang
has not responded to attempts to reach her.
Maggie Haberman is a
White House correspondent for The Times, reporting on President Trump.
Jonathan Swan is a White
House reporter for The Times, covering the administration of Donald J.
Trump. Contact him securely on Signal: @jonathan.941
Julian E. Barnes covers
the U.S. intelligence agencies and international security matters for The
Times. He has written about security issues for more than two decades.
Tripp Mickle reports for The
Times on some of the world’s biggest tech companies, including Nvidia, Google
and Apple. He also writes about tech industry trends like layoffs and
artificial intelligence.
Nvidia opens investigation after report CEO Jensen Huang was target of foreign intelligence
Nvidia
opens investigation after report CEO Jensen Huang was target of foreign
intelligence
CEO
reportedly had close relationship with a Chinese businesswoman who passed
information to Beijing
Marina Dunbar and Robert Mackey
Mon 9 Nov
2026 00.25 GMT
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/nov/08/nvidia-jensen-huang-investigation
Nvidia said on Sunday it “is initiating an independent
investigation in light of recent reporting that founder and CEO Jensen Huang
has been the target
of a foreign intelligence effort”.
The New
York Times reported in October that Donald Trump had
been briefed last year on intelligence that Huang had a close relationship with
a Chinese businesswoman
who passed information to Beijing.
Speaking
to reporters on Sunday, Trump downplayed the revelations about Huang, who is an
influential adviser to the president on artificial intelligence, saying: “I
think he’s an honorable guy. I think he probably has an excuse for it.”
Trump
also brushed off a question about whether he now regrets not acting on the
intelligence when he was briefed on it, and suggested that he would be happy to
take Huang with him on a trip to Asia next week. “I haven’t heard he’s done
anything wrong,” Trump said. “He dealt with somebody. But, you know, so does
everybody else.”
Republican
lawmakers have expressed more alarm, asking Huang to give the House foreign
affairs and intelligence committees a
closed-door briefing next week on Nvidia’s “security protocols against
foreign adversary espionage” and his relationship with Alice Huang or Huang Le,
an executive at a Singapore-based datacenter company called Megaspeed, who is
of no relation to the Nvidia CEO. She had previously been suspected of
smuggling Nvidia chips to China, prompting American officials to surveil and
monitor her.
Those
officials have determined that she was acting as a Chinese intelligence asset,
passing commercial information to Beijing, the New York Times reported, citing
unnamed sources.
The
company’s board said in a statement
on Sunday that, while it has no reason to believe that either US national
security or Nvidia secrets were compromised, its inquiry will examine all
available information.
“The
Board prioritizes US national and economic security, which is paramount to the
interests of NVIDIA and its shareholders,” the company said. “The Board has
confidence in Jensen and his leadership team and will provide further updates
as appropriate.”
Huang
fully supports the review and has committed to cooperating with it, it added.
Axios
reported on Sunday, citing a draft email by Huang to employees, that Huang
admitted to having a romantic relationship with a suspected Chinese spy and
took full responsibility for his actions.
“I was
unfaithful to my wife. My actions hurt her and our children. There is no
excuse for what I did,” Huang said in the draft email also seen by Reuters.
Nvidia
did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the Axios report.
The Times
reported
on Sunday that a memo drafted by US secretary of state Marco Rubio
circulated among top policymakers in the Trump administration last spring,
citing intelligence that the businesswoman who had a relationship with Nvidia’s
chief executive was a spy for China’s ministry of state security. Despite those
concerns, Huang was invited to join Trump’s delegation when he traveled to
China in May. Huang and his wife, Lori Huang, were also invited to a state
dinner at the White House in September for Xi Jinping and seated at the top
table with Trump and China’s president.
Nvidia’s
powerful chips serve as a cornerstone of the AI boom, placing Jensen Huang into
one of the most influential leadership positions in the industry. In that
position, he has developed a close partnership with Trump as the US government
attempts to defend its position as a leader in AI development.
However,
national security concerns have prompted strict US export controls, effectively
barring the company from selling
its top-tier processors to customers in China.
US
officials have cited threats to the US supply chain and fears over national
security risks as a rationale for the restrictions. Scott Bessent, the US
treasury secretary, has also suggested that China could be sanctioned for theft
of US data and intellectual property.
The Trump
administration has imposed restrictions on exports of advanced AI chips to
China as a matter of national security. Megaspeed’s Alice Huang was suspected
to have been helping the government get around those restrictions.
The
investigation also follows a rough
few days on Wall Street for AI tech firms, particularly Nvidia. A sell-off
of tech stocks that began earlier this month and gained steam with
disappointing earnings led to a total decline of nearly $1tn in value off the
tech-heavy Nasdaq exchange in one week and erased about $2tn in a month.
A drop of
3.1% for Nvidia, previously worth about $5tn, whose chips have made it the
poster child of the AI frenzy, was the heaviest force pulling the S&P 500
downward recently.
Nick
Robins-Early and Blake Montgomery contributed reporting
Trump Says Immigration Crackdown May Have ‘Hurt’ Republicans in Midterms
Trump
Says Immigration Crackdown May Have ‘Hurt’ Republicans in Midterms
The
president was asked in a “60 Minutes” interview that aired on Sunday whether
his deportation policies went too far. “I think it might be too tough,” he
said.
Ross
Douthat speaking with President Trump in the Oval Office. It was Mr. Trump’s
first interview since the midterm elections.Credit..."60 Minutes"/CBS
News
Reporting
from Washington
Nov. 8,
2026
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/11/08/us/politics/trump-immigration-crackdown-republicans-midterms.html
President
Trump says he believes that his aggressive immigration policies may have hurt
Republicans in the midterm election, acknowledging that his approach to
deportations, in particular, was “too tough.”
In an
interview with “60 Minutes” that aired on Sunday night, Mr. Trump
acknowledged that what he had considered a marquee accomplishment of his second
term was also a reason that his party suffered seismic losses and Democrats
took both chambers of Congress, by wide margins. Mr. Trump said he believed
that making a deal on immigration with Democrats was “actually doable.”
“I think
it both helped and hurt,” Mr. Trump said of his policies. “I think I got an
A-plus for closing up the border. I get very high marks for getting the bad
ones out, but I get hurt because we also took people that had good jobs, that —
that created one violation or breaking of the law: that was that they came into
the country illegally.”
Asked
pointedly whether he thought his deportation policy went too far, Mr. Trump
replied: “I think it might be too tough, yea.” He added: “That hurt me.”
Mr. Trump
made the admission in an in-depth interview, his first sit-down after the
midterm elections, in which he also reiterated his arguments that Republicans
lost for several reasons: because he was not on the ballot, “bad messaging,”
the war in Iran is unpopular, and voter turnout among party members was low.
Mr.
Trump’s admission that immigration was a liability in the midterms was a new
assessment, but came the same day that Mr. Trump announced
that he would elevate Stephen Miller, the architect of his immigration agenda,
to serve as his chief of staff. The interview was taped on Friday with Ross
Douthat, the former New York Times columnist.
That day,
Mr. Trump announced that Mr. Miller would replace Susie Wiles, a longtime aide
and strategist whom Mr. Trump partially blamed for the midterm losses,
signaling that he was prepared to double down on his hard-line agenda — which
has included high-profile raids and deadly ICE shootings — that contributed
to the Republican wipeout.
After the
election losses, Mr. Miller signaled that he was still prepared to pursue the
same policies. The Times reported
that Mr. Miller convened a call the day after during which he continued to
push the officials to carry out an agenda that has in the past year included ramping up
deportations, driving down border
crossings and removing immigrants to nations
they were not from.
Mr. Trump
acknowledged in the “60 Minutes” interview that there was a group of people “on
the sort of pretty far right” that “would like everybody taken out.” He said
that included people in his administration.
The
president said he believed that Democrats would be interested in a deal that
reflected the thinking of more moderate parts of his base who want “killers”
and drug dealers deported, but would be open to a deal for people who have been
in the country “for 10 and 15 years.” Currently, anyone in the country
illegally is subject to arrest and deportation, no matter how long they have
lived in the United States.
“When you
go into a hotel and you have a woman that’s worked there as — you know, as a
maid, as a cleaner, as a this, as a that, as a waitress, a lot of good things,
great jobs” he said, “and all of a sudden they’re being taken out of the
country, it’s tough. It’s a tough thing.”
This is
not the first time Mr. Trump has conceded that his immigration agenda has gone
too far. Earlier this year, after immigration officials fatally shot two
American citizens during a crackdown in Minnesota that drew national outrage,
Mr. Trump said
the administration could use a “softer touch.”
In other
parts of the interview that aired on Sunday, Mr. Trump also discussed the war
in Iran, the war between Russia and Ukraine, the billions he has made during in
his second term (he said his family manages his fortune without discussing it
with him), his bullishness on artificial intelligence and his hope of being
missed and going to heaven when he dies.
The
interview concluded with Mr. Trump being asked whether he would be able to
forgive his political enemies, like Nancy Pelosi and James Comey, if that is
all he had to do to gain admission into heaven.
The
president admitted that he could not.
Erica L. Green is a White
House correspondent for The Times, covering President Trump and his
administration.
Trump admits deportation policy was ‘too tough’ despite promotion of Stephen Miller
Trump
admits deportation policy was ‘too tough’ despite promotion of Stephen Miller
President
makes unusual acknowledgement that one of the defining policies of his second
administration had become a political liability
David Smith in Washington
Mon 9 Nov
2026 03.59 GMT
Donald Trump has
admitted that his deportation policy was “too tough” and has offered to strike
an immigration deal with Democrats in a concession following the Republicans’
disastrous defeat in the midterm elections.
In an interview
on the CBS network’s 60 Minutes broadcast on Sunday, the president
acknowledged that the aggressive crackdown had hurt him politically and said he
was open to an arrangement to allow some undocumented immigrants to remain in
the US.
Trump was
asked by 60 Minutes correspondent Ross
Douthat whether his deportation policy had gone too far. “I think it was
too tough,” he said. “I think it might be too tough, yeah. And a lot of people
would say that it’s great. But a lot of people think it’s too tough.”
The
president’s comments offered an unusually frank acknowledgment that one of the
defining policies of his second administration had become a political
liability. But they were seemingly at odds with his decision on Friday to
elevate Stephen
Miller, the architect of his immigration crackdown, to White House chief of
staff.
Since
Trump returned to office, sweeping Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)
raids at workplaces, homes and public spaces have ensnared people with no
criminal records, separated families and spread fear in immigrant communities.
Federal agents fatally shot two US citizens, Renee Good and Alex Pretti, during
operations
in Minneapolis earlier this year.
The
president claimed that his policy “both helped and hurt”, since people gave him
an “A+ for closing up the border” and “very high marks for getting the bad ones
out”. But he admitted: “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.”
Trump
added that there were competing views within the country about whether
undocumented immigrants should be deported or allowed to remain if they were
working and paying taxes. He said some people believed that “they should be
allowed to stay if they’re good people working in a landscaping company” and
“in some cases, paying taxes”.
Trump
said he believed an agreement with Democrats was achievable, allowing some
long-term undocumented residents to stay while continuing to remove people
convicted of serious crimes. He proposed targeting killers, rapists and drug
dealers while making an accommodation for people who had been in the country
for 10 or 15 years.
“Let the
people that are here, and in some cases here for 10 and 15 years, work a deal
for them,” he said. He described the proposal as something that could be
negotiated, saying: “I think that’s something that’s actually doable.”
Trump
suggested Democrats were receptive to a compromise, saying some had already
contacted him. Asked whether he could refrain from name-calling for six months
to secure an agreement, he replied: “Very easily.”
Trump
also blamed the war with Iran and higher petrol prices for much of the
Republicans’ midterms defeat, agreeing with an assessment by his
vice-president, JD
Vance, that the conflict had been a major factor. He also cited what he
described as growing dislike of Israel.
He
maintained, however, that the military campaign had been justified and said he
would make the same decision again. “My answer is an emphatic yes because you
can’t let Iran have a nuclear weapon,” he said.
Trump
insisted the war had been won and predicted that Tehran would eventually
negotiate a deal. He acknowledged that the military campaign might not have
been popular in the short term, saying: “I think historically, this will be a
very good decision. Is it a good decision for today and tomorrow? Maybe not.”
He said
he was not looking to escalate the conflict after the midterms.
On the
economy, the president conceded that his administration had failed to
communicate its achievements effectively, despite repeatedly claiming that
employment, investment and stock market figures were at record levels. “I think
it was bad messaging, maybe by me,” he said.
Trump
signalled an openness to safeguards for artificial intelligence, despite having
previously favoured allowing technology companies to police
themselves rather than imposing sweeping government restrictions. “I don’t
mind guardrails,” he told 60 Minutes. “But I don’t wanna put us in a deep
second position.”
The
interview also raised questions about the substantial increase in Trump’s
personal wealth since his return to the White House.
Douthat
cited a Forbes estimate that Trump’s net worth had increased by $3bn from the
autumn of 2024 to the autumn of 2025. Trump initially suggested that the
increase reflected the general performance of the stock market and said his
finances were managed by his son.
Asked
about his family’s cryptocurrency business, World Liberty Financial, in which
he is a co-owner and which has attracted investment from people connected to
the United Arab Emirates, Trump defended the arrangement by saying: “I know
nothing about it.”
But Dan
Alexander, a Forbes senior editor who calculates the net worth of wealthy
individuals for the magazine, challenged Trump’s explanation in a lengthy
thread on X, arguing that the president’s increased fortune could not be
explained simply by stock market gains.
Alexander
identified several sources including cryptocurrency ventures that generated
more than $1bn in proceeds and the appreciation of tokens retained by Trump,
overseas licensing agreements that expanded the value of his branding business,
and the removal of an almost $500m financial penalty in his New York civil
fraud case.
Trump
also offered a glimpse of the Republican succession battle ahead of the 2028
presidential election, saying he might endorse a candidate but had not decided
whether to intervene. Asked whether he expected to endorse a successor, Trump
replied: “Probably. Not necessarily.”
He
described the Republican party as having a strong field of potential candidates
and praised secretary
of state Marco Rubio while declining to rule out other contenders.
The
president said his endorsement would carry considerable weight but suggested he
might be better off staying out of the contest. He also expressed confidence
that the “Make America great again” movement could survive without him as its
leader, describing its defining principles as strong borders and a strong
military.
At the
end of the interview, Trump was asked whether he could forgive political
opponents including former
FBI director James Comey and former House speaker Nancy Pelosi, even before
the judgment of God. Trump said: “The answer is no. I want to be honest, no.”
Douthat
followed up: “Mr President. You have had the most charmed and remarkable life
of any American in my entire lifetime and you are telling me that before the
judgment throne of God you couldn’t find it in your heart to forgive some of
your enemies? After all that’s been given to you? Come on. Help me out here.”
But Trump
remained adamant, insisting: “I probably cannot do that, no, because I do hate
some of my enemies and I always will.”
Douthat
then noted that many presidents are remembered with a single line such as “He
freed the slaves” or “He won the cold war” and asked what line will Trump’s
presidency be remembered with.
The
president said simply: “That I made America great again.”
