Trump admin ‘reviewing everything’ about Alex Pretti shooting in Minneapolis

President Trump confirmed that his administration is “reviewing everything” following the Minneapolis shooting that left 37-year-old nurse Alex J. Pretti dead.

Speaking to the Wall Street Journal, Trump would not confirm whether the federal agent who fired the fatal shots on Jan. 24 acted appropriately.

“We’re researching, we’re looking at everything and we’ll make a decision,” Trump told the outlet as questions mounted about the incident and the broader immigration operation in the city.

Pretti, an intensive care nurse, was shot and killed by a U.S. Border Patrol agent while filming federal agents on a Minneapolis street.

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An aerial view of the large gathering of protesters at the intersection of Nicollet Avenue and W. 27th St. in south Minneapolis after Alex Pretti was fatally shot by federal agents in the area early Saturday morning, January 24, 2026. (Aaron Lavinsky/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

The officer’s operation targeted Jose Huerta-Chuma, an illegal immigrant with a criminal history including domestic assault for intentional battery, disorderly conduct and driving without a valid license.

Federal officials initially claimed Pretti approached agents with a 9mm handgun and resisted disarming.

Bystander videos and eyewitness accounts circulating online have raised questions about this version of events and whether Pretti was threatening officers when he was shot.

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President Donald Trump gestures as he walks across the South Lawn of the White House, Sunday, Nov. 2, 2025, in Washington, after returning from a trip to Florida. (Mark Schiefelbein/AP Photo)

“I don’t like shooting. I don’t like it,” Trump said, adding that Pretti was carrying “a very powerful gun, fully loaded, with two magazines… That doesn’t play well either.”

Trump also linked the federal presence in Minnesota to what he described as a sprawling welfare fraud scandal in the state, arguing that immigration enforcement was necessary to combat broader abuses.

“This is the greatest fraud ever seen,” the president said.

Allegations of fraud in the state have been central to the administration’s need to ramp up federal operations there.

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This undated photo provided by Michael Pretti shows Alex J. Pretti, the man who was shot and killed by a federal officer in Minneapolis on Saturday, January 24, 2026. (Michael Pretti via AP)

Pretti’s shooting in Minneapolis also marked the second death to occur during a confrontation between federal immigration agents and civilians in the city.

Renee Good was shot and killed on January 7 by a US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent during another operation.

The incident fueled protests and highlighted ICE’s role in domestic policing.

“At some point we will leave. We did, they did a phenomenal job,” Trump said without giving a time frame for the agents’ departure.

“We will leave another group of people there for financial fraud,” he told the outlet.

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White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt also stressed that cooperation between law enforcement agencies is essential.

“No one, including President Trump, wants to see people get shot or injured,” Leavitt said, urging officials to work more closely with the administration to deal with undocumented people living in the country illegally.