He isn’t necessarily softening. He is trolling them ‘work something out’ could be anything - but once again Trump proves to be the Grandmaster - controlling news cycle.
Yes. And so far there seems to be no evidence of "softening" beyond the phrase "something that will make everyone happy and proud." Whatever that means.
I would expect Trump to make a big splash by first deporting the thousands of criminal illegals, very soon after inauguration. This would be Step 1. Later on, as Step 2, he would announce procedures to deal with non-criminal illegals. Iirc that is what he outlined during his campaign.
IOW we might not hear details about Step 2 until after Trump's first hundred days, following deportation of the criminals. This would be a smart move from a PR perspective, in addition to addressing the most urgent problem with illegals.