The fatal shooting of Alex Pretti by a Border Patrol agent over the weekend has Donald Trump \u201cconcerned\u201d about the sustainability of his administration\u2019s ongoing Minneapolis operations, according to Trump administration officials and allies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
These individuals acknowledged to NBC News that they needed a strategic shift amid a public uproar over Pretti\u2019s killing, though the White House is still very much focused on its original agenda of cracking down on immigration and fraud.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Still, the changes made Monday are noticeable. Saturday\u2019s shooting has prompted a leadership shakeup, a reduction of agents in the city, a reset with key Democratic officials in the state and an attempt to distance the president from some of the more extreme comments from some of his top advisers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe visuals were not playing well. He understands TV. \u2026 He saw it for himself,\u201d said a Republican lawmaker who, like others in this article, were granted anonymity to speak candidly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Pretti, a 37-year-old ICU nurse and U.S. citizen, was fatally shot Saturday morning during a heated confrontation between federal agents and individuals protesting the federal government\u2019s immigration crackdown in the city.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Multiple videos of the shooting and eyewitness accounts contradict the initial response from Border Patrol chief Greg Bovino and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. They depicted Pretti as someone who was \u201cbrandishing\u201d a firearm and trying to \u201cmassacre law enforcement. Top White House official Stephen Miller said Pretti was a “domestic terrorist” who tried to “assassinate federal law enforcement.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Those initial statements, and the contradicting video evidence, prompted significant backlash \u2014 including from many in the Republican Party \u2014 toward the administration, which was already dealing with the fallout from an earlier ICE-related shooting in Minneapolis that killed Ren\u00e9e Nicole Good, a 37-year-old U.S. citizen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI am deeply troubled by the shootings in Minneapolis involving federal agents. Our Constitution provides citizens protection from the government. We have a right to free speech, to peaceably assemble and to bear arms,\u201d Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., said on Monday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe president, I think, is obviously concerned about what he saw over the weekend,\u201d said one Trump adviser. \u201cHe has always been exceptionally good at reading public perception, and understands this has not been handled well.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Trump himself posted on social media in the hours after the shooting that Pretti was a \u201cgunman\u201d who had a weapon \u201cloaded (with two additional full magazines), and ready to go!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The adviser said the goal of immigration enforcement, which has always been a top administration priority, will not end, but Pretti\u2019s death is, for the first time, forcing them to rethink what that will look like moving forward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOur supporters will continue to support a crackdown\u201d on immigration, the person said. \u201cBut there is an understanding that this weekend changed some things.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A person close to the White House said that part of the perception problem the administration is dealing with is the sheer number of agents that they say is needed for this kind of operation. More than 3,000 federal agents have been sent to Minneapolis; they currently outnumber Minneapolis\u2019 police force nearly five-to-one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe problem is, in order to get the felons out it takes a massive team of federal agents,\u201d the person said. \u201cSo you see 10, 12 or 60 people to get a guy. Then the crowd gets incited and the rhetoric heats up and people are blowing whistles and then you see the tear gas. And it\u2019s like, \u2018What are we doing?\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI think the public perception is we need to make sure what we\u2019re doing is done well and with excellence and get back to [focusing on] the worst of the worst,\u201d they added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Trump has publicly expressed frustration with the way his administration is being portrayed on a number of issues. In a Truth Social post on Jan. 19, he said there was “too much media attention on ICE” in Minnesota. The following day, during a rare appearance at the White House press briefing, Trump also mused, \u201cMaybe I have bad public relations people. I think we\u2019re doing a much better job than we\u2019re able to promote. We\u2019re not promoting. … It\u2019s one of the reasons I\u2019m doing this news conference.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Trump on Monday morning announced he was sending border czar Tom Homan to Minneapolis to lead the administration\u2019s efforts following the second fatal shooting in that city by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. He\u2019ll be replacing Bovino, who has been the face of the hard-edged enforcement operation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bovino is set to leave Minneapolis on Tuesday, and there is an expectation that the number of federal agents in that city will be reduced, administration and law enforcement officials told NBC News. It was unclear how many federal agents would be departing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
During a White House briefing Monday, press secretary Karoline Leavitt distanced Trump from some of the more extreme comments coming from his top officials. When a reporter asked if he agreed that Pretti was a \u201cdomestic terrorist\u201d \u2014 a term that Noem, as well as Miller, used \u2014 Leavitt declined to support their remarks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI have not heard the president characterize Mr. Pretti in that way,\u201d she said. \u201cHowever, I have heard the president say he wants to let the facts and the investigation lead itself.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The decision to send Homan to Minneapolis is being seen by some as Trump pushing Noem to the sidelines, since Homan does not report to her as Bovino does.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019m not sure how else you can view that,\u201d a person familiar with the move said. \u201cThis is a direct reflection of the White House not being happy with the reaction to all of this.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Leavitt said Monday morning that Trump has \u201cfull trust and confidence in\u201d Noem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Trump adviser said putting Homan atop the operation amounts to a reset following the backlash over the polarizing remarks from Noem and Bovino.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cTom Homan helps with that,\u201d the person said. \u201cNot only is a different voice, but he also understands the underlying mission, which has not changed. The effort to remove illegals remains unchanged, but there needs to be a different approach here. The video is tough to get past.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The person said that Noem was not directed by the White House to give her initial remarks on Pretti.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI think she was freelancing a bit,\u201d they said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The elevation of Homan offered a lifeline to congressional Republicans, many of whom have been concerned about the administration\u2019s actions in Minneapolis and the impact they could have on the 2026 midterms, as the public increasingly sours on federal agents\u2019 sometimes violent tactics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said it was a \u201cpositive development,\u201d a sentiment echoed by several other congressional Republicans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Underscoring the administration\u2019s efforts to change its tone, White House chief of staff Susie Wiles spoke to Democratic Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz on Saturday, according to a person familiar with discussions inside the White House.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Trump and Walz have been at odds since the latter was the Democratic vice presidential candidate in 2024. In recent weeks, Trump has accused Walz of \u201cinciting Insurrection\u201c and the Justice Department is investigating Walz and other Minnesota Democrats over how the state has responded to the federal immigration crackdown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On Monday, however, the president softened his tone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Trump said he and Walz spoke by phone, and he struck a positive tone that would have been seen as unthinkable just days ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt was a very good call, and we, actually, seemed to be on a similar wavelength,\u201d Trump wrote in a social media post.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Walz\u2019s office also called it a \u201cproductive call\u201d and said Trump agreed to talk to the Department of Homeland Security about allowing state officials to conduct their own independent shooting investigations and decreasing the number of federal agents in his state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Trump later said he also had a “very good telephone conversation” with Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, another Democrat who has been a focus of Trump’s criticism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As part of the effort to reframe the Minnesota operation, the person close to the White House said there will be renewed efforts on rooting out fraud in the state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Trump\u2019s focus on Minnesota began with conservative online influencers elevating a year-old scandal centered on a scheme to defraud a pandemic-era program in Minnesota\u2019s Somali community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe narrative has changed because when you have a shooting incident, it changes everything,\u201d the Trump adviser said. \u201cTrump is sending Homan to Minnesota with the goal of getting refocused on the fraud side of this.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
An initial investigation began in 2022, under then-President Joe Biden\u2019s administration. Since that time, there have been dozens of fraud-related charges and a growing number of convictions. But after renewed viral attention on right-wing social media channels in recent months, Trump started focusing a significant amount of attention, and resources, again on the issue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There was also a notable shift Monday from ICE about how it publicly frames its agents\u2019 work in Minneapolis. The agency\u2019s social media feed is typically filled with posts about the people they have arrested and ICE\u2019s hard-line approach to the Minneapolis operations. But on Monday, it tried to portray a softer side of ICE: It put up a post showing that agents in the city helped someone who was having trouble with their car in a parking lot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAfter discovering that his vehicle had a dead battery, the officers quickly offered their assistance,\u201d read the post from ICE\u2019s official account. \u201cUsing jumper cables from their own vehicle and with help from another community member, they successfully jump-started the car \u2014 ensuring he could safely continue on his way.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n