Donald Trump spent the weekend insisting that he would not retreat from his determination to enforce federal law in all jurisdictions when it came to illegal aliens. This morning, however, Trump may have offered a reset by changing the leadership of operations in Minnesota.
Trump announced that Tom Homan would take over all enforcement operations, along with a reminder about the ongoing investigations into fraud, official and otherwise:
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. Separately, a major investigation is going on with respect to the massive 20 Billion Dollar, Plus, Welfare Fraud that has taken place in Minnesota, and is at least partially responsible for the violent organized protests going on in the streets. Additionally, the DOJ and Congress are looking at “Congresswoman” Illhan Omar, who left Somalia with NOTHING, and is now reportedly worth more than 44 Million Dollars. Time will tell all. Thank you for your attention to this matter! President DJT
The “tough but fair” line seems to speak volumes. The shooting of Renee Good created a firestorm in the media and on the streets, but the video largely backed up the initial claims of DHS. The public statements by DHS officials, including Secretary Kristi Moem, following the shooting of Alex Pretti now look much less founded in reliable evidence. Fox reported over the weekend that ICE agents and other investigators expressed considerable “frustration” over how far over their skis these comments got:
President Trump says his administration is “reviewing everything” after a protester was killed in a CBP-involved shooting over the weekend. |@aishahhasnie pic.twitter.com/kSbTqo1oYi
— FOX & Friends (@foxandfriends) January 26, 2026
The new messaging that the White House is “reviewing everything” is a pretty big signal of shaken confidence in Noem. That may be a result of more video emerging of the Pretti shooting, or it might have come from the pushback apparently coming from the rank and file. Homan has serious credibility with the agents on the ground, and increasing credibility with the media as more of a straight shooter (pun unintended), who will bring accountability if and where needed.
That may not satisfy those who want ICE to “pause” its operations in Minneapolis. The Wall Street Journal’s editorial board called for a pause today, as did other major newspapers, which won’t bother Trump at all. However, the editorial did lay out the credibility problem that the White House now has in this shooting, an issue that could infect the efforts to enforce federal law everywhere:
The Trump Administration spin on this simply isn’t believable. Stephen Miller, the political architect of the mass deportation policy, called Pretti a “domestic terrorist.” He was a nurse without a criminal record.
Kristi Noem, the Homeland Security secretary, said the fact that he carried a gun and (she said) two magazines, meant he “arrived at the scene to inflict maximum damage on individuals and to kill law enforcement.”
But he had a license to carry a gun, which was legally concealed, not carried in his hand as some claimed. He was carrying his phone. To hear the ardent gun-rights advocates of the Trump Administration claim he had malicious intentions because he carried a concealed weapon is bizarre.
Pretti made a tragic mistake by interfering with ICE agents, but that warranted arrest, not a death sentence. The agents may say they felt threatened, but it’s worth noting the comments over the weekend by police around the country who say that this isn’t how they conduct law enforcement.
Either many ICE agents aren’t properly trained, or they are so on edge as they face opposition in the streets that they are on a hair trigger. Either way, this calls for rethinking how ICE conducts itself, especially in Minneapolis as tensions build.
Demands to leave criminal illegal aliens alone are not reasonable. These underlying credibility issues are, however, and need to be addressed to retain voter confidence. Dispatching Tom Homan to Minnesota is a good strategy for addressing the operational issues as well as the credibility gaps that ICE and DHS officials have created in the wake of the Pretti shooting.
Homan clearly has the president’s confidence in taking over command. That at least implies a loss of confidence in others who have been in charge to this point. Perhaps that will be enough to de-escalate tensions in Minnesota, not just between federal agents and local authorities, but within ICE operations in the Twin Cities. While a pause is out of the question in an insurrectionist environment, a deep breath may be in order, and Homan would be the man to direct it.
Update: Trump’s move has had one significant improvement in his position. Republicans who started raising questions about Noem and DHS in the wake of the Pretti shooting are rallying around Homan:
Some Republicans on Capitol Hill expressed relief after President Donald Trump announced Monday he would send border czar Tom Homan to handle immigration enforcement in Minnesota after Department of Homeland Security agents shot and killed a second U.S. citizen there. …
GOP lawmakers largely view Homan as a more practical enforcer of Trump’s mass deportation plans as some grow increasingly wary of how Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Border Patrol commander Gregory Bovino are handling the campaign, according to six GOP lawmakers granted anonymity to discuss internal conversations.
“There needed to be a change,” said one of the GOP lawmakers.
One of the duties of Cabinet secretaries and other presidential appointees is to serve as scapegoats for failures, a lesson never learned by the Biden Regency. Trump knows this much better. If Homan handles this well and stabilizes the situation, some personnel changes may be in the offing.
Editor’s Note: Democrat politicians and their radical supporters will do everything they can to interfere with and threaten ICE agents enforcing our immigration laws.
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