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A Republican Told Trump His Crackdown Went Too Far. He Answered The Next Day.
On Thursday 17 September 2026, Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar (Republican, Miami) released a 30-second campaign ad filmed outside the White House and addressed directly to the president who endorsed her.
"Mr. President, some of your immigration enforcement efforts have gone too far." In the ad she says that in July, 50% of the 50,000 people detained had no criminal record, and that "the same Hispanics who helped you get to the White House in 2024 feel betrayed today." She is explicit that she is not asking for amnesty.
The next day, in the Oval Office, a reporter asked Trump whether he had seen it and whether he still backed her run. He said he had, and that he disagrees with her: "Maria won only because of me... so she got a little bit softer on the border."
On Sunday 21 September she told CBS the two had spoken since, and that he had been "very receptive". She is still running. He is still backing her. The midterms are 43 days away.
SOURCES - "A Message to President Trump on Immigration" - uploaded by Maria Elvira Salazar's own channel, 17 September 2026. Paid for by Salazar for Congress. - PBS NewsHour, "WATCH: Trump calls Rep. Salazar softer on the border", 18 September 2026 (Oval Office). - Reporting: CBS News, CNN, TIME, The Hill, Fox News (17-21 September 2026).
Note: a separate claim the president made in the same exchange, about southern border crossings over 16 months, is not included here - he said himself he finds it hard to believe, and it would need its own check.
What the reel says
Narration as scripted and voiced.
On Thursday, a Republican congresswoman stood outside the White House, filmed a 30-second video, and addressed it to the president who endorsed her
Mr. President, some of your immigration enforcement efforts have gone too far.
In July, 50% of the 50,000 people that were detained had no criminal record.
Maria Elvira Salazar represents Miami. She is a Republican. She is on the ballot in November, and the man she is talking to is the reason she holds the seat
The same Hispanics who helped you get to the White House in 2024 feel betrayed today.
What she is asking for is not amnesty. She says so in the ad in as many words. She is asking him to separate the people with a record from the people without one
The next day in the Oval Office, a reporter asked him whether he had seen it and whether he still backed her
Do you still back her run and have you seen that video? Well, I do and I have. I disagree with her a little bit.
And Maria won only because of me. So she got a little bit softer on the border.
On Sunday, she said the two of them had spoken since and that he was, in her words, very receptive. She is still running. He is still backing her
43 days from the midterms. That is a Republican telling the president his own crackdown went too far on camera with her name on it
