Trump Quizzes Workers at the White House: ‘Any Illegal Immigrants?’

President Trump was halfway through an answer on his shifting deportation policy when a thought apparently occurred to him: Maybe the men standing behind him were illegal immigrants?

The president had asked the members of a work crew putting up a new flagpole on the White House grounds to stand with him as he addressed the news media Wednesday. But then the questions shifted to immigration, and Mr. Trump’s potential softening of his hard-line position on deportations.

Throughout his time in public life, Mr. Trump has cast himself as the scourge of undocumented immigrants, making illegal immigration a focal point of his presidential campaign and portraying migrants in dehumanizing ways.

But he has recently backed off deportation efforts in certain industries. On Wednesday, he fashioned himself as a potential protector of the men at work at the White House.

“Do we have anybody here?” he asked, turning to the workers. “Any illegal immigrants?”

When no one responded, he told the men it was the news media, not him, who would be checking into them.

“They’ll find out,” he said, motioning to the reporters in front of him. “They’ll be checking you. You won’t believe it. Your whole life will be destroyed because of this press conference.”

He then assured them he’d be on their side.

“Don’t worry, I think you’re going to be OK,” he said to one man. “I’ll be right behind you. Far behind.”

The men laughed.

“No, I’ll be right behind you,” Mr. Trump continued.

At another point in the news conference, the president suggested that one of the workers may even become a movie star.

“But remember that somewhere in this group, there’s somebody that is going to captivate some movie producer,” he said, adding: “Somebody is going to say that guy is perfect for a movie, and you’re going to become a star, and your friends are going to call you, and you won’t even return them.”

It was all a bit perplexing for a president who has pushed some of the most aggressive immigration policies in decades while instituting new exceptions for farm and hotel workers.

A reporter asked about the conflicting signals the administration is sending, with Mr. Trump’s order to back off raids at farms and the Department of Homeland Security’s stance that work site raids would remain a priority.

Those moves have prompted internal conflict on the right.

On Wednesday, there was not much clarity coming from the president.

“Everybody’s right,” he said.

Mr. Trump then suggested prioritizing criminal aliens for deportation, which has been the strategy of several recent administrations.

“Look, we have to take care of our farmers,” Mr. Trump said. “We have to take care of people that run leisure hotels. We have to take care of them. But most importantly, we have to get the criminals out of our country.”