President Donald Trump was ready to board the chopper for his planned trip to Iowa on Tuesday, January 27, 2026, when reporters caught him for a brief interaction.
Before hopping on the chopper from the White House, Trump stopped to answer a few questions reporters had about the death of ICU nurse Alex Pretti, the second US citizen to be fatally shot by Border Control/ICE agents in Minneapolis this month.
The late victim was shot dead by a Border Control agent after he reportedly approached the officers, with what the Trump administration claimed was a handgun.
While multiple reports revealed Pretti was legally permitted to own a handgun, videos from the scene showed he reportedly did not approach agents with the weapon and only held a phone in his hand.
Pretti’s fatal shooting marked the second civilian death since Renee Nicole Good was shot dead by ICE agent Jonathan Ross earlier in January. The tragedies sparked widespread protests and outrage not just in Minneapolis but across the nation.
DJT: “You can’t have guns.”
From a president who’s spent years glorifying violence and armed extremists.
Responsible gun ownership isn’t the problem — reckless rhetoric and deadly double standards are. pic.twitter.com/I4YkavM76J
— GIFFORDS (@GIFFORDS_org) January 27, 2026
In the wake of the incident, Elizabeth Landers, a reporter from PBS News called asked the POTUS whether or not he thought Pretti was an “assassin,” as initially labelled by White House Deputy Chief-of-Staff Stephen Miller.
Trump denied that claims and made a comment about the Second Amendment instead, earning a sharp response from the NRA and other guns-rights organizations.
Referring to the Second Amendment, Trump said, “You can’t have guns. You can’t walk in with guns; you just can’t.” He was quick to blame Pretti’s death on the fact that he owned a handgun, stating, “It’s just a very unfortunate incident.”
Trump didn’t explain further and moved on to other questions, eventually boarding the chopper bound for Iowa. The National Rifle Association of America or NRA quickly clapped back at Trump’s controversial remark.
This sentiment from the First Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California is dangerous and wrong.
Responsible public voices should be awaiting a full investigation, not making generalizations and demonizing law-abiding citizens. https://t.co/9fMz3CL29o
— NRA (@NRA) January 25, 2026
“The NRA unequivocally believes that all law-abiding citizens have a right to keep and bear arms anywhere they have a legal right to be,” the wrote on X.
The association was also shocked over acting US Attorney for the Central District of California, Bill Essayli’s comments on the shooting that echoed Trump’s recent statement.
On X, Essayli justified Pretti’s death, claiming that if approached with a gun, any federal officer would most likely be “legally justified” to shoot.
The NRA almost immediately re-posted Essayli’s remarks and claimed the statements were “dangerous and wrong.” In the post, they urged the Trump administration to conduct a thorough investigation into the shooting.
They also called out the “responsible public voices” and urged Trump administration not to “generalize and demonize” law-abiding citizens.
👉🏼 Statement on President Trump’s Recent 2A Comments
“We remain skeptical, as we have always been, about President Trump’s fealty to the Second Amendment.
We respect the work that many in his administration have done to advance Second Amendment causes, particularly in the… pic.twitter.com/D4sIpChzza
— MN Gun Owners Caucus (@mnguncaucus) January 27, 2026
It wasn’t just the NRA who were irked by Trump’s comments. The Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus also shared their thoughts on X in the wake of Trump’s remarks on the Second Amendment.
The Chairman for the organization, Bryan Strawser, reiterated the scepticism felt toward Trump’s thoughts on the Second Amendment and hoped for a more positive implementation.
He also hoped that the POTUS’ remark was “not a reflection of a new direction.” One of the main reasons there’s been an outpour of negativity for Trump’s remarks is because of what the Second Amendment mentions.
The law enables US citizens to legally own a firearm and cannot be “infringed” per the Library of Congress. The White House has not yet released an official response to the NRA or other guns-rights groups amid the backlash.
