President Donald Trump's comments come as lawmakers and administration officials grapple with negotiations over the fate of undocumented immigrants brought to the United States as children. | Evan Vucci/AP Photo Trump open to citizenship for DACA enrollees

President Donald Trump will consider a pathway to citizenship in 10 to 12 years for enrollees in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, he told reporters during an impromptu news conference at the White House on Wednesday evening.

"We're going to morph into it. It's going to happen at some point in the future," Trump said, according to audio of the discussion posted online by The Daily Caller. He added that the timeline would be “over a period of 10 to 12 years.”


Trump will also request $25 billion to build a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border as part of the negotiation, as well as $5 billion for other border security measures, he said.

In addition, the administration will seek to scale back family-based immigration and eliminate — or possibly replace — the diversity visa lottery, which grants 50,000 visas each year to people from nations with low rates of immigration to the U.S., the president said.

The comments come as lawmakers and administration officials grapple with negotiations over the fate of undocumented immigrants brought to the United States as children.

Trump rejected a bipartisan proposal presented by Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) earlier this month; in addition, he turned down a since-retracted offer to fund the border wall from Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer.

Instead, the administration intends to roll out its own “legislative framework” on Monday, press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Wednesday.

The congressional negotiations haven’t stopped: A group of roughly three dozen senators met on Capitol Hill on Wednesday evening. The senators agreed that Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn (R-Texas) and Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) should lead negotiations, according to Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.).

Congress also needs to pass a spending bill by Feb. 8 to prevent another government shutdown, but Democratic senators agreed Wednesday to keep a deal for Dreamers separate, signaling a possible breakthrough in talks.

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Graham, who has sparred with White House officials over a possible DACA fix in recent days, said he’s “never felt better” about the odds of finding an immigration solution than after the president’s comments.

“President Obama tried and couldn’t fix immigration. President Bush tried and couldn’t do it,” Graham said in a written statement. “I believe President Trump can.”

The president also suggested he could revive the DACA program beyond a March 5 deadline set by the administration.

Trump said he wouldn’t guarantee an extension. “But I certainly have the right to do that if I want,” he told reporters.

The cutoff date has already lost some meaning. A federal judge earlier this month ordered the administration to temporarily process renewals in the program.

When pressed on the fate of immigrants with imminent DACA expiration dates, Trump said, “Tell them not to worry.”

Cristiano Lima and Elana Schor contributed to this report.