Deportation policy ‘might have been too tough’, says Trump, as Miller starts chief-of-staff role – US politics live

President’s admission appears at odds with the elevation of immigration hardlinerTrump admits deportation policy was ‘too tough’ despite Miller promotion Sign up for US Breaking News emailHello and welcome to the US politics live blog.Donald Trump said he thinks his administration was too aggressive on deportations and that he was open to an arrangement to allow some undocumented immigrants to remain in the US.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.We would work something out. And I think it’s something - I think that’s something that’s actually doable.On the race among Republicans to succeed him for the 2028 presidential election, Trump hinted at staying neutral. Asked whether he’d endorse a potential successor, the president said “probably, not necessarily.” “We have a tremendous bench. I have so many people that I have great relationships with,” Trump said in his CBS interview.Trump said on Sunday that he “was only kidding” when he announced a day earlier that he had offered the job of White House press secretary to Dana White, the chief executive of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). Speaking to reporters on his way back the White House from his beach club in Florida, Trump explained the premise of his joke, that if the UFC boss, who is a devoted fan of the president, took over the briefing room, flanked by six fighters, reporters “wouldn’t mess around with him so much”.Trump will meet with Qatar’s prime minister at ⁠the White House today, according to the White House schedule, as the ⁠conflict with ⁠Iran ​drags on and diplomatic efforts to end it face significant obstacles. Trump is due ⁠to meet with Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani, who also serves as Qatar’s foreign ⁠minister, in a closed-door meeting. Vice-president JD Vance ​is also scheduled to meet ‌with the ‌Qatari leader, according to a US official.A US deportation flight of Iranian nationals bound for Iran by way of Pakistan was abruptly canceled Sunday morning, according to an attorney who spoke to some of the detainees slated for repatriation. At least eight Iranians were loaded onto a plane Sunday morning in Mesa, Arizona, for a deportation flight headed to the country of Georgia, then on to Pakistan, according to Ali Rahnama, an attorney with the Iranian American Legal Defense Fund who filed emergency motions on behalf of some of the Iranian detainees. The flight was canceled without explanation, he said. Continue reading...