Trump’s about-face in Minnesota after Pretti’s death is latest in pattern of sudden shifts

WASHINGTON– WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump took a more conciliatory approach with Minnesota’s Democratic leaders on Monday, a sudden change of course following outcry over the second fatal shooting by federal agents in the state this month during the administration’s nationwide crackdown on undocumented immigrants.

The about-face comes after the shooting death of Alex Pretti by federal agents on Saturday raised doubts — including from some Republicans — about how the Trump administration went about aggressively expelling migrants and confronting protesters opposed to the policy.

But it’s just the latest in a series of moments where Trump first took a maximalist stance only to appear to backtrack.

Earlier this month, Trump repeatedly threatened Iran with military action if his administration found the Islamic Republic was using lethal force to quell recent anti-government protests. Human rights groups said thousands had been killed, but Trump said he was reluctant to act after receiving assurances that Tehran was suspending hundreds of planned executions.

Last week, Trump first announced plans to impose new tariffs on European allies who refused to comply with his calls for a U.S. takeover of the Arctic territory of Greenland — only to abruptly reverse the tariffs after saying he had agreed to the “framework” of a deal. The White House provided few details about the deal, which Trump announced the day after one of the worst stock market days in months in response to his tariff threat.

Then, on Monday, the Trump administration changed oversight of its immigration operations in Minnesota, and the typically bombastic Trump offered a warmer tone toward Gov. Tim Walz after speaking with the Democrat, saying he and Walz were now on a “similar wavelength.”

It’s a particularly shocking turnaround for Trump, who had promised to be tough on mass deportations of undocumented migrants during his 2024 campaign — and because Trump has repeatedly criticized Walz and other Minnesota Democrats in personal terms for resisting his policies.

Trump said he had dispatched border czar Tom Homan to take charge. Meanwhile, Border Patrol Senior Commander Greg Bovino and some agents were expected to leave Minneapolis as early as Tuesday, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Trump said on social media that Walz “was happy Tom Homan was going to Minnesota, and so am I!” Later, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey confirmed that some agents would leave the city after speaking with Trump — and suggested that the president appeared to be coming to the conclusion that the current state of federal operations was unsustainable. Homan and Frey were scheduled to meet Tuesday.

Trump’s change in Minnesota came after some Republicans questioned the tactics of federal agents during Saturday’s shooting as well as the White House’s response. Some senior administration officials had called Pretti a domestic terrorist, even though videos of the meeting contradicted their account.

Minnesota gubernatorial candidate Chris Madel, a Minneapolis attorney, ended his Republican campaign in a surprise video announcement Monday, calling the recent immigration enforcement in the Twin Cities an “absolute disaster” and saying he no longer wanted to be a member of the party because of it.

Meanwhile, Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, who has been a strong supporter of Trump’s immigration crackdown, offered measured criticism in an interview with conservative radio host Mark Davis, saying the White House needed to “recalibrate” what it was doing in Minnesota. Vermont Republican Gov. Phil Scott called on Trump to reset and de-escalate the situation.

“At best, these federal immigration operations are a complete failure in coordinating acceptable public safety and law enforcement practices, training and leadership,” Scott said. “At worst, this is deliberate intimidation and incitement by the federal government against American citizens that results in the murder of Americans.”

The president’s approach to Walz, who served as Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris’ running mate in 2024, amounts to a sharp turnaround.

A day earlier, Trump’s deputy chief of staff, Stephen Miller, ridiculed Walz on social media as an attempt to “incite attacks” on U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. The White House social media team, in a series of posts, called the governor a “truly disturbed and unstable individual” and an “unhinged lunatic” who “rants, rants and lies.”

Miller also called Pretti, a nurse who worked at a Veterans Affairs hospital, a “potential assassin,” while Homeland Security’s Kristi Noem called the ICU nurse committing an act of domestic terrorism.

The White House did not ask whether Trump agreed with his top aides’ rhetoric or whether the administration would apologize for it.

“This incident is still under investigation,” press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters. “And no one here at the White House, including the President of the United States, wants to see Americans injured, killed or lose their lives. »

Trump’s response to the deaths of the two American citizens in Minneapolis has been much more muted than reactions to the political violence he has described as targeting his own political movement.

After the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk in September, the president addressed the nation from the Oval Office and called Kirk’s death “a dark moment for America.”

In November, Trump gave a national address after two National Guard members were shot in Washington by an Afghan national, one fatally. The Guard members had been deployed to the nation’s capital as part of a federal mission to assist local police, and the president called the shooting “an act of evil, an act of hatred and an act of terror.”

But the president has yet to speak directly to the nation about the deaths of Pretti and Renee Good, another U.S. citizen killed by federal agents in Minneapolis earlier this month. So far, Trump has largely chosen to keep the public informed about Pretti’s death through social media posts.

Although his comments Monday appeared aimed at dismissing the rhetoric, Trump’s chief spokesman Leavitt continued to criticize Walz and other Minnesota Democrats for encouraging “left-wing agitators to arrest, record, confront and obstruct federal agents who are simply trying to lawfully carry out their duties.”

“This is precisely what happened in Minneapolis on Saturday morning,” Leavitt added.

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AP writers Josh Boak and Joey Cappelletti in Washington, Jim Vertuno in Austin, Texas, and Scott Bauer in Madison, Wisconsin, contributed reporting. Karnowski reported from Minneapolis.