Donald Trump on Thursday implied that immigrants could eventually be allowed to return to the country just days after his campaign chief said there would be “no touch back” for undocumented immigrants currently living in America.

“No is not a path — there is no path to legalization unless people leave the country,” the Republican presidential nominee said to CNN’s Anderson Cooper, while also describing his evolving position on immigration as a "hardening."

“When they come back in, if they come back in, then they can start paying taxes, but there is no path to legalization unless they leave the country and come back.”

Kellyanne Conway, Trump’s recently appointed campaign manager, told CNN on Tuesday that Trump would not have a “touch back” policy.

Trump also denied that he was "softening" on immigration, instead saying "people" are calling it a "hardening."

However, he did say to Cooper that "you know it's a process. You can't take 11 [million people] at one time and say 'boom, you're gone.'"

He denied that his policy mirrored vanquished primary foe Jeb Bush's, saying "I don't know anything about Jeb Bush. He wasn't building a wall."

Bush's former staffers told POLITICO that Trump has "basically taken the Bush position" on immigration.

Trump’s recent statement on immigration have caused his allies to squirm, leaving them unsure how to defend his shifting policy.