(AP Photo/Manuel... (Associated Press) 
 
 WASHINGTON (AP) — 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. But a senior White House official later said Trump had misspoken and believed his Fox interviewer was asking about an effort by GOP moderates — abandoned for now — that would have forced votes on a handful of bills and likely led to House passage of liberal-leaning versions party leaders oppose. But Shah argued that Trump was instead knocking a proposal backed by moderates and Democrats that would codify the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program without any significant immigration crackdown. “The President fully supports both the Goodlatte bill and the House leadership bill," Shah said, referring to a conservative DACA plan that's expected to fail next week, as well as the compromise bill released Thursday. Only the compromise bill would open a door to citizenship for young immigrants brought to the U.S. 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. White House aide Stephen Miller, an immigration hard-liner 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. And the White House had drafted a policy statement saying the president would sign the bill. "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." Trump wrote in a tweet that stopped short of explicitly endorsing the compromise plan. His office told Breitbart that the Louisiana Republican, who wants to be speaker someday, would not whip support for any immigration bill the president opposed. Had the White House not reversed Trump's position, GOP leaders would have found themselves backed into a corner, having to ask Republicans to vote against their own president on a controversial topic that divides the party most. ___ 
 
 Associated Press reporters Lisa Mascaro, Matthew Daly and Padmananda Rama contributed to this report.
– The White House has walked back comments made by President Trump on Friday that he would not sign a "moderate" immigration reform bill scheduled for a vote next week. A spokesman said Trump had misunderstood the question and does indeed back the measure, reports Politico. The tumult erupted as GOP leaders put the finishing touches on a pair of Republican bills: a hard-right proposal and a middle-ground 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 ("Dreamers"), and reduce the separation of children from their parents when families are detained crossing the border. When asked about the bills Friday in a Fox News interview, Trump said, "I certainly wouldn't sign the more moderate one." But a senior White House official later said Trump had misspoken and believed his Fox interviewer was asking about an effort by GOP moderates—abandoned for now—that would have forced votes on a handful of bills and likely led to House passage of liberal-leaning versions party leaders oppose, per the AP. The White House later put out a statement formally endorsing the "moderate" measure now in the works. Earlier this week, Paul Ryan had said the president was on board with it. Trump also weighed in by tweet, writing that any bill "MUST HAVE" provisions financing his proposed wall with Mexico and curbing the existing legal immigration system. Those items are included in the middle-ground package. Democrats are expected to solidly oppose both GOP bills, giving Republicans little leeway for losing support.