What The Hell?

Get your news from a source that’s not owned and controlled by oligarchs. Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily.

A day after videos emerged of ICE agents chasing after farmworkers across California, forcing immigrants to hide in fields, President Donald Trump appeared to say, in a Truth Social post, that he would not fully pursue his core policy proposal of mass deportation. He had sympathy, if not for the workers then for the agricultural industry—his fellow bosses—who needed the hunted men for labor power.

“Our great Farmers and people in the Hotel and Leisure business have been stating that our very aggressive policy on immigration is taking very good, long-time workers away from them, with those jobs being almost impossible to replace,” he wrote on Truth Social, before issuing a vague declaration, “Changes are coming!” Speaking to reporters later on Thursday, Trump reiterated the sentiment. “Our farmers are being hurt badly. They have very good workers…They’re not citizens, but they’ve turned out to be great.”

A quick look at similar remarks should disabuse you of such hope.