Donald Trump and Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) remain at odds over a plan to pursue a policy of mass deportation of undocumented immigrants should Trump end up president.
In an interview with CBS’s “Face the Nation” on Sunday, Ryan said that he continued to oppose Trump’s plan to deport those living in the United States illegally and that he told him so in a private meeting.
An earlier transcript of the interview suggested that Trump had privately told Ryan that he was backing off the position. But video released later in the day clearly shows that Ryan was saying that it was he, not Trump, who opposed the idea.
“Paul was saying it’s not in OUR agenda,” said Ryan’s top spokesman, Brendan Buck. “Trump has never said to him that it’s not part of his agenda.”
Deportation and the construction of a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border are twin pillars of Trump’s immigration platform.
“They’re going to be deported,” he told NBC’s Lester Holt last month, referencing undocumented immigrants. “We have many illegals in the country, and we have to get them out.”
Trump, of course, faces a massive problem with Hispanic voters as he pivots from the Republican primary to the general election, so softening his deportation policy would seem like a natural path for him to follow. As of now, however, it appears that Trump isn’t budging.