Trump reportedly told aides that Stephen Miller had gone too far with deportations after Melania made a private complaint

First Lady Melania Trump privately objected when some people she knew were deported, and President Donald Trump later began telling aides that Stephen Miller had pushed too far, The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday. Miller has been the main force behind the administration’s immigration crackdown.

The president’s stance on immigration shifted during the year. According to the report, he sometimes told aides he wanted a tougher approach.

On Election Day, counties with very large Hispanic populations voted heavily for Democrats. Republicans in Texas and Florida had privately raised concerns with the White House about the crackdown, the Journal said.

Midterm results and other issues raised with the president

Aides showed Trump polling from the spring and summer that indicated voters were worried about affordability. He dismissed the numbers as fake. A senior administration official told the Journal that the president noted he had not ordered any polls in 2016 and still won the election.

The same official said Trump at times told aides he did not care about the midterms. The president had grown tired of domestic politics and focused more on foreign affairs and his legacy and how he’d be remembered, according to the official.

Newt Gingrich and Sean Hannity quietly urged him to pay attention to costs for voters. During calls in which Trump discussed ending the filibuster, Senate Majority Leader John Thune repeatedly tried to bring up affordability. Trump has also complained about too few allies defending him on TV.

Trump wanted to veto a popular bipartisan housing bill and told one adviser that nobody cared about it. Aides later persuaded him to allow the bill to become law without his signature.

The president also backed loyalists over stronger Republican Senate candidates in four states. Democrats won all four of those races, the Journal reported.

“It really didn’t have to be this way,” said Rep. Ralph Norman, who lost South Carolina’s Republican Senate primary after Trump intervened.

A White House official told the Journal that Trump was not indecisive and always sought feedback. Advisers also pointed out that he held 30 rallies for candidates.