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US PRESIDENT DONALD Trump has said his administration is “going to de-escalate a little bit” in Minneapolis following large-scale protests that have taken place in the city following the shooting of Alex Pretti.
The 37-year-old ICU nurse was shot dead by federal agents during a protest against an immigration crackdown in the Minnesota city on Saturday.
It came less than three weeks after Renee Good, also 37, was shot in her car by ICE agents during a similar protest in the city.
The killings capped months of escalating violence in which masked, unidentified, and heavily armed ICE and border patrol agents have grabbed people they accuse of violations off the streets.
Pretti’s death has reignited public outcry from both sides of the political line, with Democrats and Republicans calling for a thorough investigation into the matter, and Trump’s administration coming in for criticism over their handling of the incident.
Speaking on Fox News’ Will Cain Show last night, Trump said both shootings were “terrible”.
“We’re going to de-escalate a little bit,” he said, though added it was not a “pullback” but “a little bit of a change”.
Trump also admitted that Gregory Bovino, the hardline Border Patrol commander who is now expected to leave Minneapolis, was “a pretty out-there kind of a guy” whose presence may not have helped the situation, and sent top US border security official Tom Homan to meet with officials in the city.
He also criticised Pretti for carrying the licensed firearm that was taken off him before he was shot. “I don’t like the fact that he was carrying a gun.”
He repeated this to reporters while boarding Marine One. Asked whether he agreed with his deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller, who described Pretti as an “would-be assassin” in the wake of the shooting, Trump said he didn’t.
He went on to say: “You can’t have guns. You can’t walk in with guns. You just can’t. You can’t walk in with guns. You can’t do that.”
In their rush to blame Pretti for his death, and to exonerate the agents involved in his killing, the Trump administration has angered one of the long-time key allies of the Republican Party – the gun lobbies.
Any statement about gun ownership has drawn sharp pushback, most notably from the NRA (National Rifle Association).
“Responsible public voices should be awaiting a full investigation, not making generalizations and demonizing law-abiding citizens”, the organisation said earlier this week.
The response to Pretti’s death pushed Trump to make phone calls to local Democratic leaders, and pledge to reduce the 3,000 federal agents deployed to Minneapolis in recent weeks.
An unspecified number of the federal agents are expected to leave the city soon.
Yesterday, Stephen Miller said the immigration agents in Minneapolis may have breached “protocol” before the fatal shooting of Pretti – days after falsely branding him an assassin.
Miller, a powerful figure who leads Trump’s hardline immigration policy, said that the White House was now looking into the possible breach.
He said the White House had provided “clear guidance” that extra personnel were sent to Minnesota to protect deportation agents and “create a physical barrier between the arrest teams and the disruptors.”
“We are evaluating why the CBP (Customs and Border Protection) team may not have been following that protocol,” Miller said.
The White House later said that Miller was referring to “general guidance” to immigration agents operating in the state, rather than the specific incident in which Pretti was killed.
It added that officials would be “examining why additional force protection assets may not have been present to support the operation” to remove undocumented migrants from Minnesota.
Miller also appeared to blame both the border agency and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for his “would-be assassin” comments on Saturday, which have since attracted criticism.
He said his comments were based on an initial statement by Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, who falsely said Pretti was brandishing a weapon when he approached federal agents.
Video evidence later showed that the victim was not holding a gun at the time. Pretti had a sidearm on him, but agents had already removed it before he was shot multiple times at point-blank range.
“The initial statement from DHS was based on reports from CBP on the ground,” Miller said in his statement.
Trump has resisted pressure to sack Noem, saying that she was doing a “very good job” and would remain in her role.
With reporting from © AFP 2026
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