US President Donald Trump said that he believes his administration could use “a softer touch” in its immigration enforcement operations in an interview with NBC News on Wednesday.
Federal agents shot and killed two US citizens, Alex Pretti and Renee Good, in separate incidents in Minneapolis during a Trump-ordered immigration crackdown in the city.
Trump, US Vice President JD Vance, and other high-ranking officials were quick to blame Good and Pretti for the incidents, going so far as to refer to them as “domestic terrorists.”
In an Oval Office interview with NBC Nightly News, Trump said he had “learned that maybe we could use a little bit of a softer touch, but you still have to be tough, we’re dealing with really hard criminals.”
Trump has been engaged in a feud with Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, two Democrats who have been highly critical of his immigration crackdown in the city.
“I’ve called the governor. I’ve called the mayor. Spoke to ‘em. Had great conversations with them. And then I see them ranting and raving out there. Literally as though a call wasn’t made,” said Trump.
His remarks to NBC News highlight his continuously shifting tone as national outrage over ICE's conduct in Minnesota. On January 20, Trump said that federal agents “make mistakes sometimes,” acknowledging errors in conduct.
ICE withdraws 700 agents from Minnesota
Earlier on Wednesday, US border czar Tom Homan announced that 700 Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers were being withdrawn from Minnesota, a decision that Trump confirmed he had made.
“But it didn’t come from me because I just wanted to do it,” Trump added. “We have - we are waiting for them to release prisoners, give us the murderers that they’re holding, and all of the bad people, drug dealers, all of the bad people.
"We allowed in our country, I say, 25 million people with an open-border policy for four years under Biden, and that group, the autopen group, I call them. We allowed people to come into our country, people the likes of which no country would accept. And we’re getting ‘em out.”
Trump’s claim of 25 million undocumented immigrants entering the country during the Biden administration has been proven false. According to data from Customs and Border Protection, the number is 7.4 million.
Announcing the withdrawal, Homan said, “My goal, with the support of President Trump, is to achieve a complete drawdown and end this surge, as soon as we can.”
He reiterated that “if you are in the country illegally, you are not off the table… President Trump fully intends to achieve mass deportations during this administration, and immigration enforcement actions will continue every day throughout the country.”
"This is smarter enforcement, not less enforcement," he said, adding that local authorities will not be conducting immigration enforcement. Over the last two months, at least 3,000 ICE agents have entered Minneapolis in an operation known as “Metro Surge.” This means that the city has had at least 5 ICE agents for every police officer.
Local officials responded to Homan on Wednesday, saying they “remain concerned about the thousands” of ICE and Border Patrol agents in the state.