These days, anything a politician does is analyzed to death, especially by people desperate to find something to be angry about. Vice President JD Vance has announced something that doesn’t need to be picked apart for hidden meaning. It’s a blunt message to the left that the Trump administration stands firmly behind ICE agents, no matter how loud the protests get or how many Democrats try to throw roadblocks in their way.
He’s going to Minneapolis.
ICYMI: Nick Shirley Goes Nuclear During Fraud Hearing on Capitol Hill
According to the White House announcement, Vance’s agenda includes a roundtable with local leaders and community members, meetings with ICE personnel in the Twin Cities, and a speech focused on restoring law and order in Minneapolis.
The Trump administration backs ICE, and they aren’t being subtle about it. pic.twitter.com/V24xnPGoPP
— Matt Margolis (@mattmargolis) January 22, 2026
Don’t expect any hand-holding or apologies. According to Axios, Vance has no plans to extend olive branches to state and local officials or the protesters who are actively trying to obstruct federal immigration enforcement.
Why it matters: Vance’s planned events and speech underscore how the administration isn’t backing down from its controversial raids and stops that resulted in the fatal shooting of protester Renee Good and damaged President Trump’s poll numbers.
•”JD took Minnesota on as an issue where he’s going to lead. He wants a strong response,” an adviser said. “He doesn’t want to back down. Neither does the president.”
Zoom in: Vance plans to hold a roundtable with community leaders, give an exclusive interview to the conservative outlet Newsmax and then conduct a news conference where he’ll be flanked by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.
• Vance “will point out how Minneapolis’ sanctuary city policies have degraded public safety and endangered ICE officers. He will also celebrate the essential work ICE agents have done to take dangerous, criminal illegal aliens off of America’s streets,” a White House official said.
• Vance also is expected to emphasize the creation of a new Justice Department assistant attorney general position to oversee prosecuting large-scale fraud and abuse of taxpayer-funded programs.
Zoom out: The ostensible theme of Vance’s visit is to emphasize the administration’s “unwavering support” for ICE, but Trump advisers inside and outside the White House hope to continue shifting focus away from the unpopular enforcement actions and more toward prosecuting fraud.
The visit comes as Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey have both been hit with grand jury subpoenas from the Department of Justice in a criminal probe into whether they conspired to obstruct federal immigration officer efforts to enforce immigration laws.
It’s not clear at this point if Vance will meet with either Walz or Frey — I’m guessing he won’t, or more likely they’ll both grandstand about not meeting with him — but it would be pretty awesome to see Vance and Walz face off again. I still have fond memories of the pair from the 2024 vice presidential debate, when Vance utterly destroyed Walz.
Good times.
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