Trump appears to soften on ICE in Minnesota and appeals to foe Tim Walz as fallout mounts over Alex Pretti killing
President Donald Trump claims he is now on a “similar wavelength” with Minnesota Governor Tim Walz after growing outrage in the aftermath of another fatal shooting in Minneapolis, where federal officers surging into the state shot and killed a 37-year-old demonstrator.
The president’s latest statement appears to back off months of threats against Walz and other Democratic officials who the administration is investigating for allegedly criminally obstructing immigration enforcement in the state.
Trump said the governor called “with the request to work together with respect to Minnesota.”
“It was a very good call, and we, actually, seemed to be on a similar wavelength,” Trump wrote.
Trump said that his border czar Tom Homan would be calling Walz, “and that what we are looking for are any and all Criminals that they have in their possession.”
“The Governor, very respectfully, understood that, and I will be speaking to him in the near future,” he added. “He was happy that Tom Homan was going to Minnesota, and so am I!”
Earlier, Trump announced he was deploying Homan to the state, where he will be “managing” Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations “to continue arresting the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens,” according to White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt.
“He has not been involved in that area, but knows and likes many of the people there,” Trump wrote Sunday. “Tom is tough but fair, and will report directly to me.”
His deployment glimpses a shift in strategy after weeks of ongoing demonstrations in Minneapolis and political blowback against a surge of officers accused of violently targeting noncitizens and citizens alike, as well as protesters who have outlined attacks against them in lawsuits backed by state and city officials.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem placed border patrol official Greg Bovino at the helm of the administration’s boots-on-the-ground operations in Democratic-led cities. He is overseeing roughly 3,000 agents from ICE and border patrol in Minneapolis.
Following the killing of Pretti, who was fatally shot by border patrol officers who wrestled him to the ground Saturday, Noem and her agency’s top officials, including Bovino, immediately defended the officers’ actions.
Bovino baselessly alleged Pretti intended to “massacre law enforcement.” Noem suggested during a press conference Saturday that she believed Pretti was engaged in “domestic terrorism” — a statement refuted the next day by top deputy attorney general Todd Blanche.
“I don’t think anybody thinks that they were comparing what happened on Saturday to the legal definition of domestic terrorism. What we saw was a very violent altercation, and I’m not going to prejudge the facts,” he said during an interview with Fox News.
Trump also distanced himself from the shooting in an interview with The Wall Street Journal, saying that officials are investigating the incident. “We’re looking, we’re reviewing everything and will come out with a determination,” Trump said.
