President Donald Trump held late-night crisis talks with Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on Monday evening amid conflicting reports about whether her job is at risk over the killing of Alex Pretti in Minneapolis.
According toThe New York Times, the meeting took place in the Oval Office, was initiated by Noem, and lasted almost 2 hours.
Also present was the secretary’s top aide, Corey Lewandowski, as well as White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, and Communications Director Steven Cheung. The Trump administration’s Homeland Security Adviser, Stephen Miller, was conspicuous by his absence.
A source subsequently told the Times that the president did not suggest during the meeting that either Noem’s or Lewandowski’s jobs were at risk.
But a separate report in The Atlantic had earlier suggested the opposite.
The talks come amid renewed uproar over the surge of federal immigration forces into Minnesota after Customs and Border Protection officers shot dead Pretti, a 37-year-old intensive care nurse, making him the second U.S. citizen to be killed protesting the presence of masked government agents in their streets after the fatal shooting of Renee Good on January 7.
As was the case with Good, Noem was quick to excuse the men responsible, insisting the victim was engaged in an act of “domestic terrorism” whose actions left them no choice but to defend themselves with lethal force, despite widely-seen video evidence filmed by bystanders contradicting that narrative.
Noem’s claims included that Pretti had “attacked” officers and was “brandishing” a gun; Pretti was licensed to carry a concealed weapon in Minnesota, and it was taken from his waistband area by a federal agent moments before he was shot at least 10 times.
“I don’t have any evidence that I’ve seen that suggests that the weapon was brandished,” Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said in a Sunday interview on CBS.
In the immediate aftermath of Pretti’s killing, Miller labeled him “an assassin” who “tried to murder federal agents,” a claim that was reposted by Vice President JD Vance, while Border Patrol’s “commander at large” Gregory Bovino said it “looks like” Pretti had “wanted to do maximum damage and massacre law enforcement.” Bovino’s claims were shared in a social media post by the Department of Homeland Security, which is overseen by Secretary Noem.
The baseless claims about Pretti’s action and motives sparked widespread outrage, with bipartisan calls for independent investigations. Some Democrats have vowed to withhold DHS funding amid calls for additional oversight measures, which could force a partial federal government shutdown.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul on Saturday said that Noem had “forfeited her right to lead.”
“I’m calling on her to resign as Secretary of Homeland Security or Donald Trump to do the right thing and just fire her. And, if not, she must be removed or impeached,” Hochul said at a press conference.
Growing public anger over Pretti’s killing has forced the president to recalibrate his unquestioning support for the harsh tactics employed by immigration agents.
