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White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt on Monday publicly backed Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and federal law enforcement leaders operating in Minnesota as tensions flare following Saturday’s fatal shooting of Alex Pretti in Minneapolis.
Trump announced Monday that he would deploy border czar Tom Homan to Minnesota, prompting questions about whether the move reflected any frustration with the officials already overseeing the response on the ground.
“Secretary Noem still has the utmost confidence and trust of the president of the United States, and she’s continuing to oversee the entire Department of Homeland Security and all of the immigration enforcement that’s taking place across the whole entire country,” Leavitt said during a press briefing Monday when asked if the president was dissatisfied with how the officials on the ground handled the shooting.
The Department of Homeland Security oversees U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the U.S. Secret Service and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), meaning Noem was juggling the immigration crackdown as well as a massive snow storm that rocked a large portion of the U.S. Sunday.
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“Of course, Secretary Noem is also in charge of FEMA, and we are in the wake of a brutal winter storm where hundreds of thousands of Americans have been impacted by that,” Leavitt continued. “So border czar Homan is in a unique position to drop everything and go to Minnesota to continue having these productive conversations with state and local officials. And I know that he’s catching a plane in just a few hours to do just that.”
Leavitt also defended senior United States Border Patrol Commander Gregor Bovino during the press conference, calling him a “wonderful man, and he’s a great professional.”
“He is going to have very much continue to lead Customs and Border Patrol, throughout and across the country,” Leavitt said. “Mr. Homan will be the main point of contact on the ground in Minneapolis to follow up.”
President Donald Trump said earlier Monday that he was deploying the border czar to Minnesota and that he would report directly to the president, sparking questions over whether Trump’s confidence in his federal immigration law enforcement officials was slipping.
“I am sending Tom Homan to Minnesota tonight. He has not been involved in that area, but knows and likes many of the people there. Tom is tough but fair, and will report directly to me,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.
Leavitt told Fox Digital that “Homan will be managing ICE operations on the ground in Minnesota and coordinating with others on the ongoing fraud investigations,” but did not add whether the president has lost confidence in current leadership on the ground.
Tensions in Minnesota further flared over the weekend when 37-year-old Pretti was shot and killed by Border Patrol Saturday. Federal authorities say Pretti, a U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs ICU nurse, approached agents with a 9 mm handgun and did not cooperate when they tried to disarm him.
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The fatal shooting follows another fatal shooting on Jan. 7 of Renee Good by an ICE agent in Minneapolis. Good’s and Pretti’s deaths have spurred an outpouring of condemnation and outrage from critics of the administration, arguing the government has blood on its hands and heightening protest confrontations with law enforcement officials.
Leavitt added Monday that Homan has the “full trust and faith of the president” as he travels to Minnesota and continues delivering on the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.
“Mr. Homan is the point person for cooperating with state and local authorities and corresponding with them again, to achieve this level of cooperation, to subdue the chaos on the streets of Minneapolis,” she said. “And I would just point out that Mr. Homan is someone who has been lauded for many, many decades for his experience working in law enforcement.”
Leavitt pointed to an old Washington Post headline celebrating Homan a decade ago.
“In fact, this is a Washington Post headline from nine years ago, 2016: Meet the man the White House is honored for deporting illegal immigrants. And I would remind everyone in this room that it was former President Barack Hussein Obama who awarded a medal to Mr. Homan,” she continued.
Trump revealed on Truth Social Monday that he had a productive phone call with Democratic Gov. Tim Walz, who he said requested that the local government work with federal officials amid the chaos.
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“It was a very good call, and we, actually, seemed to be on a similar wavelength. I told Governor Walz that I would have Tom Homan call him, and that what we are looking for are any and all Criminals that they have in their possession,” Trump wrote.
“The Governor, very respectfully, understood that, and I will be speaking to him in the near future. He was happy that Tom Homan was going to Minnesota, and so am I! We have had such tremendous SUCCESS in Washington, D.C., Memphis, Tennessee, and New Orleans, Louisiana, and virtually every other place that we have ‘touched’ and, even in Minnesota, Crime is way down, but both Governor Walz and I want to make it better!” Trump continued in his post.
Walz’s office told Fox Digital Monday that the governor had a “productive” call with Trump, pressing for impartial investigations into the Minneapolis shootings involving federal agents — and urging a reduction in the federal footprint in Minnesota.
“The President agreed that he would talk to his Department of Homeland Security about ensuring the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension is able to conduct an independent investigation, as would ordinarily be the case,” Walz’s office continued. “The President also agreed to look into reducing the number of federal agents in Minnesota and working with the state in a more coordinated fashion on immigration enforcement regarding violent criminals.”
Walz’s office said the governor also “reminded” Trump that Minnesota’s Department of Corrections honors federal immigration detainers — and that there isn’t a “single documented” instance of the agency releasing someone from state prison without first offering to facilitate a smooth transfer of custody.
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