The latest round of mixed messages comes after leading Democrats indicated Wednesday evening that they were close to a deal to save the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which is scheduled to end in March. That appeared to be thrown into doubt when the president tweeted Thursday morning that "no deal" had been made, only to be followed by remarks to reporters that he and Democrats were "working on a plan -- subject to getting massive border controls."
"We're working on a plan for DACA. People want to see that happen," the president said at one point on Thursday. "You have 800,000 young people, brought here, no fault of their own. So we're working on a plan, we'll see how it works out. We're going to get massive border security as part of that. And I think something can happen, we'll see what happens, but something will happen."
Trump said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, who had dinner with the president Wednesday night, "agree with it." He added that he had spoken with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Speaker Paul Ryan and they are "on board."
But that was followed Thursday by a suggestion that the issue of the border wall, a key campaign promise for Trump, could still derail the deal.
"Very important is the wall. We have to be sure the wall isn't obstructed," he said.
In what might have been a response to the Breitbart-inspired hashtag #amnestydon, the president added: "We're not looking at citizenship. We're not looking at amnesty. We're looking at allowing people to stay here."
Right-wing news site Breitbart, with former White House adviser Steve Bannon back at the helm, had called the president "Amnesty Don" in a headline Wednesday.
Schumer and Pelosi put out a statement Thursday acknowledging that a deal had yet to be finalized but said that the president's tweets suggesting otherwise were "inconsistent" with the partial agreement reached Wednesday night.
"As we said last night, there was no final deal, but there was agreement on the following: We agreed that the President would support enshrining DACA protections into law, and encourage the House and Senate to act," the joint statement from the House and Senate Democratic leaders said. "What remains to be negotiated are the details of border security, with a mutual goal of finalizing all details as soon as possible."
The latest characterizations of the evolving deal from both sides early Thursday followed considerable confusion.
In a statement issued Wednesday night, Schumer and Pelosi said they would work on legislation with the president to fund security on the U.S. border with Mexico that excludes Trump's longtime promise of a wall between the countries -- though the White House initially disputed the recounting of that portion of the meeting.