The Trump administration is rushing to contain the political fallout after a second person was killed by a federal immigration agent in Minneapolis.
Republicans across the spectrum have for weeks warned the White House that its implementation of the president’s immigration agenda had Americans increasingly anxious about the federal government’s heavy-handed role. The backlash exploded this weekend following the shooting of 37-year-old Alex Pretti in Minneapolis over the weekend.
Federal officials said Pretti “approached U.S. Border Patrol officers with a 9mm semi-automatic handgun.” Video verified and analyzed by several media outlets, including The New York Times, show the item Pretti appeared to be holding was a phone he was using to film the scene before he attempted to help a woman pushed to the ground by Border Patrol agents.
Normally loyal Republicans criticized the president, a partial-government shutdown over Immigration and Customs Enforcement tactics seems possible, and polling shows that the president is losing ground on immigration — including among voters who backed him in 2024.
On Monday, President Donald Trump offered the first hint that the political crisis engulfing his administration would lead to changes on the ground. He deployed border czar Tom Homan to Minneapolis, a move viewed by some administration officials and Trump allies as a recognition that the president needed to change course. Homan, Trump said, will report “directly to me.”
“That is intentional,” said an administration official, granted anonymity to speak candidly. “Tom needs to be in charge.”
Trump also spoke to Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, a Democrat, on Monday and said they “seemed to be on a similar wavelength,” the latest sign that the president may be looking to deescalate tensions. It was a notable change in tone from late Sunday when he asked the governor to “cooperate with the Trump Administration to enforce our Nation’s Laws, rather than resist and stoke the flames of Division, Chaos, and Violence.”
Walz’ office said the call was “productive,” and said the president agreed to look into reducing the federal government’s presence in the state. The White House did not immediately respond to a request seeking to verify the president’s comments.
The moves underscore the degree to which the administration is looking to change conditions on the ground and could prove to be a turning point for how the White House implements Trump’s promise to deport the millions of unauthorized immigrants living in the country.
Some party officials have urged the administration to retreat as tensions peak, while others — including those who want the president to fulfill his promise of large-scale mass deportations — fear the administration has taken its eye off the prize, detaining and subduing American citizens instead of deporting unauthorized immigrants.
“You get the riots but not the deports. Bad trade,” said Mike Howell, president of the Oversight Project and a visiting fellow for border security and immigration at the Heritage Foundation. “The administration has put itself in a weak position by not doing mass deportations, but rallying up the left as if they are.”
A Senate Republican aide, granted anonymity to speak candidly, said Republicans won the election, in part, because of Americans’ desire for border security and a fear that undocumented immigrants were committing violent crimes in American cities. Now, the aide said, it’s Americans getting killed by the very people they thought would protect them. The campaign ads, write themselves, the aide said.
For weeks, the White House has been on the defensive, battling criticism not only from the left, but also from Trump officials and allies increasingly wary of the administration’s tactics and response to the killings of U.S. citizens. And polling that shows slipping support for the president’s immigration agenda has spooked some Republicans and Trump aides.
“It’s not just moderate Republicans, it’s independent voters, it’s Hispanics, it’s young voters,” said a person close to the White House, speaking to voting groups Republicans should be worried about. The person was granted anonymity to speak about internal concerns.
Republican blowback surged this weekend after Pretti’s killing. Republican lawmakers called for probes into the incident, while others warned that the Department of Homeland Security and ICE risked losing credibility with the public. And Democrats have threatened a potential shutdown, vowing to oppose DHS funding in the wake of Saturday’s shooting.
“If I were President Trump, I would almost think about, OK, if the mayor and governor are going put our ICE officials in harm’s way and there’s a chance of losing more innocent lives, or whatever, then maybe go to another city and let the people of Minneapolis decide: Do we want to continue to have all of these illegals?” Oversight Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) said Sunday on Fox News.
A new POLITICO poll, found that Americans were uneasy of Trump’s use of immigration agents to quell protests. Fifty-one percent — including 31 percent of 2024 Trump voters — say it is not worth risking the lives of anti-ICE protesters to conduct immigration enforcement. A 41 percent plurality say it isn’t worth risking the lives of ICE agents. Thirty-four percent, however, say risks to agents’ lives are a price worth paying.
Dasha Burns, Daniel Lippman and Eric Bazail-Eimil contributed to this report.
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