President Donald Trump shifted Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s focus toward border security after a meeting in the Oval Office. This meeting followed the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti, a Veterans Affairs ICU nurse, by federal immigration agents in Minneapolis, according to several news reports.
CBS News said that Noem was at the White House on Monday. She faced questions regarding how the department handled the shooting and its public response. Her priorities are expected to shift away from interior enforcement operations and toward the southern border and other issues.
This change occurred as the White House sent border czar Tom Homan to Minneapolis to manage the federal operation there after days of protests and political fallout. Reuters reported that Trump planned to send Homan. A senior official confirmed that Gregory Bovino, a top Border Patrol official leading the deployment, would leave Minnesota along with some agents.
The administration has faced criticism over its description of Pretti after his death. Homeland Security officials and other Trump aides initially called Pretti a “domestic terrorist” right after the shooting. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt later distanced the president from that terminology, telling reporters, “I have not heard the president characterize Mr. Pretti in that way.”
ABC News reported that Noem met with Trump as scrutiny increased. Trump decided to change direction by sending Homan to Minnesota. The Guardian and other sources noted that several senior aides, including chief of staff Susie Wiles, were present at the Oval Office meeting.
Noem’s senior adviser Corey Lewandowski was also at the meeting with Trump, according to reports quoting sources familiar with the discussion.
The decision to appoint Homan as Trump’s representative in Minnesota followed changes around Bovino. His high-profile role during the Minneapolis operation led to criticism. Reuters reported Tuesday that Bovino had been removed from his role as Border Patrol “commander at large,” following information from The Atlantic and sources familiar with the situation. Other reports indicated that Bovino was leaving Minneapolis to help ease tensions and reduce the federal presence.
Trump has publicly supported Noem despite calls for her removal. In an ABC News live update, Trump said, “I think she’s doing a very good job,” when asked whether Noem should step down.
Pretti’s death increased scrutiny of federal immigration enforcement in Minnesota, coming after another fatal shooting earlier this month. Federal agents shot and killed 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good during an ICE encounter, according to reports at the time.
Federal, state, and local officials have continued to demand investigations into the Minneapolis shooting. Reporting has highlighted disagreements over what happened in the moments before agents fired their weapons.
The personnel shift also exposed internal tensions within the administration’s immigration apparatus. Reporting has indicated that ICE officials objected to the decision to place Border Patrol units at the forefront of high-profile interior operations in cities such as Los Angeles, Chicago and Minneapolis, assignments that traditionally fall under ICE’s authority.
Several current and former officials told national outlets that the overlap created confusion on the ground and resentment inside DHS, factors that weighed on Trump’s decision to pull Bovino’s teams back and reassign operational control in Minnesota.
