President Donald Trump has made it clear that he has no intention of pulling ICE agents out of Minnesota. The state has seen widespread protests and backlash ever since federal agents were deployed in the Twin Cities for an immigration crackdown.
Things got worse after the killings of Minneapolis residents Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti at the hands of federal immigration agents. Following the shootings, Trump announced that he wanted to de-escalate tensions in the state.
However, he changed his stance on Thursday. During the premiere of the first lady’s documentary Melania at the Kennedy Center, a reporter asked the president whether ICE agents would be removed from Minnesota.
Q: So you’re not pulling back in Minnesota?
TRUMP: No no. Not at all. pic.twitter.com/JfSkzClHci
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) January 30, 2026
Trump replied, “We keep our country safe. We’ll do whatever we can to keep our country safe.” When the reporter again asked if he had decided to pull the officers back, the President reiterated, “No, no. Not at all.”
Trump made the statement a day after ICE agents were given new directives and were asked not to communicate or engage with “agitators”. The President’s latest comments contradict border czar Tom Homan, who stated that the administration was willing to reduce the number of agents in Minnesota.
Homan, the new “main point of contact on the ground” for the president, stated on Thursday, “[We want] common sense cooperation that allows us to draw down on the number of people we have here.”
The border czar also acknowledged lapses in the crackdown so far and noted that there was scope for improvement to ensure citizens’ safety.
Homan said, “We are not surrendering our mission at all. We’re just doing it smarter,” adding, “President Trump wants this fixed, and I’m going to fix it.”
Earlier this week, Trump highlighted that his administration was holding talks with the state government to reduce tensions. He told Fox News, “We have Tom Homan there now. We put him in there, he’s great. And they met with the governor, the mayor, everybody else… We’re going to de-escalate a little bit.” Trump has since reversed his position on the matter.
Today I met with Governor Walz, Mayor Frey, and top law enforcement officials to discuss the issues on the ground in Minnesota. We all agree that we need to support our law enforcement officers and get criminals off the streets. While we don’t agree on everything, these meetings…
— Thomas D. Homan (@RealTomHoman) January 27, 2026
The president also called the victim an “agitator” and “insurrectionist” in a Truth Social post on Thursday. He wrote, “Alex Pretti’s stock has gone way down with the just released video of him screaming and spitting in the face of a very calm and under control ICE Officer, and then crazily kicking in a new and very expensive government vehicle, so hard and violent, in fact, that the taillight broke off in pieces.”
On January 24, 37-year-old Pretti was fired shot multiple times by Border Patrol agents when he tried to stop them from pepper-spraying a woman. Earlier, on January 7, 37-year-old Good was shot three times by a federal agent during an anti-ICE protest.
Both these incidents have sparked fear among Minnesota citizens, and the state government has repeatedly asked for the removal of ICE agents. But with Trump’s recent comments, it seems like the crackdown will continue for a while.
