Stephen Miller has walked back on his comments regarding the shooting of ICU nurse Alex Pretti at the hands of a Border Patrol agent in Minneapolis.
The White House Deputy Chief of Staff, who previously labelled Pretti a “would-be assassin,” said his initial comments were based on information provided by Customs and Border Protection (CBP), which falls under Kristi Noem‘s Department of Homeland Security.
“Any early comments made were based on information sent to the White House through CBP,” he allegedly said.
According to The Daily Mail, Miller issued a statement saying the White House gave DHS clear instructions to use extra personnel from CBP to keep protestors away from operations where law enforcement is attempting to arrest a fugitive on the run.
However, Miller argued that the CBP failed to follow those instructions. “We are evaluating why the CBP team may not have been following that protocol,” he said.
“The White House provided clear guidance to DHS that the extra personnel that had been sent to Minnesota for force protection should be used for conducting fugitive operations to create a physical barrier between the arrest teams and the disruptors,” Miller added.
Stephen Miller 3 days ago:
Alex Pretti is a domestic terrorist.
Stephen Miller today:
Fire Kristi Noem. She went rogue!!! pic.twitter.com/pSjs0oOyJx
— Governor Newsom Press Office (@GovPressOffice) January 28, 2026
Miller’s statement comes after a source told Axios that Noem has allegedly shifted blame on the former after getting calls to be fired from her role following the death of Pretti.
“Everything I’ve done, I’ve done at the direction of the president and Stephen,” the DHS Security reportedly told the source. Noem had previously claimed that the 37-year-old nurse was “brandishing a weapon” and attempting to endanger law enforcement officers.
“This looks like a situation where an individual arrived at the scene to inflict maximum damage on individuals and to kill law enforcement,” she said during a press conference on Saturday.
Just hours after Alex Pretti was shot dead, the Trump administration deemed him a threat and justified the actions of the federal agent involved in the shooting. A similar response was also seen during the fatal shooting of Renee Nicole Good by ICE agent Jonathan Ross earlier this month.
However, in light of immense backlash following Pretti’s shooting, the White House seemingly attempted to clean up its response to the incident. Stephen Miller’s latest comments appeared to be part of one such attempt.
Moreover, Donald Trump also took action to diffuse the ICE situation in Minnesota. He reportedly spoke to Governor Tim Walz to discuss the possibility of potentially pulling at least some federal agents out of the state.
‼️‼️ NEW: STEPHEN MILLER SAYS IN STATEMENT TO @CNN THAT CBP AGENTS MAY NOT HAVE BEEN FOLLOWING PROPER PROTOCOL BEFORE KILLING ALEX PRETTI
SOURCE: @KristenhCNN
Trump sidelined Miller from meetings on how to proceed after Pretti murder and now he issues this statement
— Maine (@TheMaineWonk) January 28, 2026
Additionally, a source shared that Border Patrol Commander-at-Large Gregory Bovino “should be blamed” for the incident “not Stephen.” In a meeting with Trump and officials, it was established that Bovino provided information to the White House when the incident occurred.
It was later reported that Border czar Tom Homan will be replacing Bovino. Trump told Fox News, “You know Bovino is very good, but he’s a pretty out-there kind of a guy, and in some cases, that’s good, maybe it wasn’t good here.”
Meanwhile, Noem, though not stepping down, was handed over a new role since Trump praised that she is doing a very good job despite her statements on the fatal shooting.
The President also said that the changes in Minneapolis show that they are “going to deescalate a little bit,” but clarified its not a pullback. ““I don’t think it’s a pullback. It’s a little bit of a change,” he mentioned.
