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President Donald Trump is doing something in Minnesota that he’s generally avoided in his second term: shifting course on a contentious issue in the face of criticism.
As US citizen Alex Pretti’s killing by federal agents rattles Republicans and emboldens Democrats to object to the Department of Homeland Security’s budget, Trump is shaking up immigration enforcement in the state and talking more about working with local officials.
Trump has sent White House border czar Tom Homan to Minnesota, saying that Homan will “report directly to” him. One senior White House official said that Homan would do more than manage ICE operations in Minnesota — that he’ll be working as a mediator of sorts between the administration and state and local officials.
“The president definitely does not want to continue seeing unrest in Minneapolis. He does not want to continue seeing Border Patrol agents and ICE agents being totally targeted … Of course, the shooting was terrible and tragic, and the president does not like to see that,” the official told Semafor, adding that Trump “trusts Tom and is sending him up there to … find a way to cooperate so that we can pull back.”
Homan will also be taking the lead with Customs and Border Patrol in Minnesota, with Border Patrol chief Greg Bovino expected to depart the state imminently alongside some agents. Bovino had taken a central role in immigration enforcement operations that have sparked nationwide protests amid the shootings of Pretti and fellow US citizen Renee Good.
It’s not clear, however, whether Trump’s rare, if indirect, acknowledgment of problems with his aggressive border enforcement will result in successful deescalation.
A DHS official told Semafor that some Border Patrol agents will remain in Minnesota, and there’s no sign of the independent investigation into Pretti’s killing that even some Republicans are calling for. The White House’s message remains focused on supporting immigration enforcement.
Yet Trump is undoubtedly more measured after Pretti was shot, with video at the scene indicating that he never brandished the gun he was lawfully carrying at the agents who appeared to disarm him before killing him. The president has also made overtures to top Minnesota officials, and he has pointedly not echoed some of his advisers who described Pretti as a “domestic terrorist” following the incident.
In addition, the White House official said, the president still feels that he doesn’t need to invoke the Insurrection Act in Minnesota — a threat he had made earlier this month but backed off of in the last week and a half.
“Obviously the Insurrection Act remains an option on the table for the president, but he is no more closer to pulling that trigger today than he was a week ago before the incident,” the official said.
Trump maintained that he and Walz, who rarely speak and traded barbs for weeks over immigration operations in the state, “actually seemed to be on a similar wavelength.” Walz also spoke with chief of staff Susie Wiles over the weekend, the official told Semafor.
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Republicans hope to refocus on affordability heading into the midterm campaign, and Trump has told confidants for weeks that he wants immigration enforcement in Minnesota to be known for catching criminals. But two shootings of US citizens and scenes of unrest in Minnesota are blotting out any hope of that.
Throughout the weekend, Trump spent hours talking to aides and officials about the situation in the state. And congressional Republicans are increasingly scrutinizing the Trump administration’s immigration operations.
At least three panels chaired by Republicans are planning immigration enforcement hearings this winter: Senate Homeland Security Chair Rand Paul and House Homeland Security Chair Andrew Garbarino are asking for CBP, ICE and USCIS to testify and DHS Secretary Kristi Noem is expected to appear before the Senate Judiciary Committee on March 3.
Noem also spoke to Senate Appropriations Chair Susan Collins, R-Maine, on Monday morning. Collins is working to avoid a partial government shutdown and touted the inclusion of new funding for body cameras and oversight for the DHS inspector general in the agency budget she helped negotiate.
Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., told reporters on Monday that there may also be “appropriate things with the purview of the administration” that could be done to avoid a shutdown.
“I am certainly open and committed to finding a pathway forward, and I know that that means having some engagement on how we can all do better and be better. At the same time, we make sure we are standing with our law enforcement officers and allowing criminal illegal aliens to be properly removed,” Britt said.
Yet more GOP lawmakers are distancing themselves from Trump advisers’ past attempts to brand Pretti as dangerous or inappropriately armed at the Saturday protest.
Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., said “your Second Amendment rights don’t disappear when you exercise your other rights,” while Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, encouraged the administration to be “more measured” in its rhetoric.
The Gun Owners of America, while lauding Trump for taking “some of the most pro-Second Amendment actions in modern history,” also took partial issue with White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt’s remark to reporters on Monday that “when you are carrying a weapon … and you are confronted by law enforcement, you are raising the assumption of risk and the risk of force being used against you.”
Leavitt’s “affirmation of the President’s support for the right to keep and bear arms matters,” GOA Director of Federal Affairs Aidan Johnston said in a statement.
“However, gun owners should not have to assume risk of force when lawfully carrying and while respecting the rule of law. Carrying a firearm is not inherently a crime and should not be treated as such.”
Notable
- A group of prominent Minnesota business leaders called for “de-escalation” in the state in a weekend statement, Semafor reported.
Elana Schor contributed.