U.S. President Donald Trump recently confirmed that his administration is “reviewing everything” regarding the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti. For context, on Saturday, January 24, 2026, Pretti, an ICU nurse, was shot dead by a U.S. Border Patrol officer in Minneapolis.
Speaking to The Wall Street Journal in a five-minute call regarding the incident, the POTUS said that his administration is looking into the case and it will eventually “come out with a determination.”
The President affirmed that he doesn’t like shooting, adding that Pretti carried “a very powerful, fully loaded gun with two magazines.”
“I don’t like any shooting. I don’t like it. But I don’t like it when somebody goes into a protest and he’s got a very powerful, fully loaded gun with two magazines loaded up with bullets also. That doesn’t play good either,” he said.
Trump also said that he would eventually withdraw the thousands of federal agents employed in the Twin Cities. “At some point, we will leave. We’ve done, they’ve done a phenomenal job,” he stated.
🚨 BREAKING: Trump says his administration is “reviewing everything” about the Minneapolis shooting and suggests immigration enforcement officials may eventually be pulled from the area.
Translation: the video blew up the script, the backlash is spreading, and now they’re…
— Brian Allen (@allenanalysis) January 26, 2026
Following Pretti’s passing, the DHS shared a statement on their official X account, writing that around 9 a.m. local time, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) “law enforcement officers were conducting a targeted operation in Minneapolis against an illegal alien wanted for violent assault.”
According to the statement, Alex “approached US Border Patrol officers with a 9 mm semi-automatic handgun.” The department also posted a photo alongside the statement.
They claimed that when “authorities attempted to disarm him, the “armed suspect violently resisted,” which prompted an agent to fire shots, who was “fearing for his life and the lives and safety of fellow officers.”
Although Alex was provided with immediate medical aid, he was pronounced dead at the scene, the statement added.
“The suspect also had 2 magazines and no ID—this looks like a situation where an individual wanted to do maximum damage and massacre law enforcement,” they continued.
Similar claims were made by multiple members of the Trump administration that Pretti was carrying a gun during the altercation. However, footage verified by The New York Times shows otherwise.
According to the outlet, verified social media clips showed that Pretti was holding a phone and not a gun before authorities took him, pinned him down and fired shots.
This is a screen shot of Alex Pretti holding his cell phone before he was killed by ICE in Minneapolis. We need to counter ICE’s false narrative about what happened so use these directions to make a copy of this sign and bring it out this weekend.
Here is the link to download… pic.twitter.com/wrcNtlVWoc
— Bennett Haselton (@bennetthaselton) January 24, 2026
Pretti’s parents issued a statement following the shooting, accusing the Trump administration of spreading lies.
“We are heartbroken but also very angry…The sickening lies told about our son by the administration are reprehensible and disgusting. Alex is clearly not holding a gun when attacked by Trump’s murdering and cowardly ICE thugs,” said Michael and Susan.
“He has his phone in his right hand and his empty left hand is raised above his head while trying to protect the woman ICE just pushed down all while being pepper-sprayed. Please get the truth out about our son. He was a good man,” they continued.
In another statement to Associated Press, his mother described Pretti as an “outdoorsman,” who “took his dog everywhere he went.” She added, “You know, he loved this country, but he hated what people were doing to it.”
