President Donald Trump has been scrambling to find a way to withdraw federal agents from Minnesota without implying the immigration surge that left two U.S. citizens dead was a political or operational failure.
The president made the rare move Monday to try to de-escalate tensions in Minneapolis after his administration faced near-universal condemnation for its response to the shooting death of Veterans Affairs nurse Alex Pretti.
Officials including Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem originally tried to smear Pretti as a “domestic terrorist” and claimed he had tried to “massacre” law enforcement agents. The ICU nurse was legally carrying a gun but never brandished it before being wrestled to the ground, disarmed, and shot in the back by Border Patrol agents on Saturday.
The rush to blame Pretti for his own death sparked outrage on both sides of the aisle, forcing Trump to try a new approach that included sidelining both Noem and her choice to lead the Minneapolis operation, Border Patrol commander-at-large Gregory Bovino.
In the lead-up to that decision, the president spent Sunday lamenting that Noem and Bovino had botched the official response to Pretti’s killing, and complained that they came across as “callous” during press conferences, a Trump confidant told Axios.
“It’s f—ed, and POTUS knew he needed to unf— it,” another adviser told the outlet.
After Fox News host Brian Kilmeade floated the idea of sending border czar Tom Homan to Minneapolis to “settle things down” on Monday, Trump announced he was doing just that.
“[Bovino]’s a cowboy, and it was a mess,” a source familiar with the operations told Axios. “Someone needed to step in.”
Noem and Homan previously butted heads over who’s in charge of Trump’s mass deportation effort, and who should be targeted in the administration’s immigration crackdown.
So far, Noem’s preferred approach of conducting broad public sweeps instead of focusing on convicted criminals has led to record-low polling on immigration for Trump.
While immigration was considered one of the president’s strongest issues during the 2024 election, just 39 percent of Americans approve of his handling of immigration following the deaths of Pretti and Renee Nicole Good, both 37.
Good was shot and killed by ICE agents on Jan. 7 while trying to drive away from the scene of a protest.
Trump doesn’t want to seem spooked by the weak polling, however, according to Axios.
“We can’t lose Minneapolis because if we do, we lose Chicago and Los Angeles,” an administration adviser told the outlet.
White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson told Axios in a statement that the president’s entire immigration enforcement team, including Noem and Homan, are “on the same page” and “working together seamlessly to implement the president’s agenda.”
The Daily Beast has also reached out to the White House for comment.
The post Trump Scrambles to Save Face After ‘F***ed’ Shooting Response appeared first on The Daily Beast.
