Trump says immigration crackdown was 'too tough' and played part in midterms defeat

US President Donald Trump has said his immigration crackdown was "too tough", marking one of his clearest public retreats from a defining plank of his political agenda, following his party's drubbing in the midterm elections.

In an interview with CBS' 60 Minutes programme, Trump said he believed he deserved an "A plus" for drastically limiting illegal border crossings, but he had been politically "hurt" by sweeping deportations.

His acknowledgement came despite his homeland security department insisting it was not backing away from the crackdown.

Election day polling indicated immigration was the third most important issue for midterm voters, after the economy and the state of democracy.