Confusion over Trump’s stand on bill

President Donald Trump ignited eleventh-hour confusion Friday over Republican efforts to push immigration legislation through the House, saying he wouldn’t sign a “moderate” package. The White House later walked back the comments, formally endorsing the measure and saying Trump had been confused.

The campaign-season tumult erupted as GOP leaders put finishing touches on a pair of Republican bills: a hard-right proposal and a middleground plan negotiated by the party’s conservative and moderate wings, with White House input. Only the compromise bill would open a door to citizenship for young immigrants brought to the US illegally as children, and reduce the separation of children from their parents when families are detained crossing the border — a practice that has drawn bipartisan condemnation in recent days.

“I’m looking at both of them,” Trump said when asked about the proposals during an impromptu interview on Fox News’ Fox & Friends, adding: “I certainly wouldn’t sign the more moderate one.” The comment prompted confusion on the Hill and jeopardised Republicans’ plans for votes on both bills next week. Leaders released a schedule for next week that included “possible consideration” of immigration legislation.

Earlier this week, House Speaker Paul Ryan had told colleagues that Trump supported the middle-ground package. White House aide Stephen Miller, an immigration hardliner who has been accused of trying to sabotage immigration deals in the past, told conservative lawmakers at a closed-door meeting that the president backed that plan.