Trump says Walz wants to ‘work together’ as Minneapolis tensions flare after ICU nurse shooting
President Donald Trump said he had a "very good call" with Democratic Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz Monday as tensions in Minneapolis flared following the shooting of Alex Pretti by a federal immigration officer Saturday.
"Governor Tim Walz called me with the request to work together with respect to Minnesota," Trump posted to Truth Social Monday. "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."
Chaos has continued in Minnesota over the weekend, including agitators confronting law enforcement at a hotel Sunday evening. Protests and tensions heightened Saturday after Border Patrol agents in Minnesota fatally shot Pretti.
Federal officials say Pretti approached agents with a 9 mm handgun and resisted disarmament, while witnesses have cast doubt on if Pretti, an ICU nurse, posed a threat to agents.
"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 held a "productive" call with Trump while making the "case that we need impartial investigations of the Minneapolis shootings involving federal agents, and that we need to reduce the number of federal agents 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. 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 continued.
The governor's office added that Walz "reminded" Trump that the Minnesota Department of Corrections complies with federal immigration detainers and that there isn't a "single documented case of the department’s releasing someone from state prison without offering to ensure a smooth transfer of custody."
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Trump announced Monday that he was deploying White House border czar Tom Homan to Minnesota and that he will report directly to the president.
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"Tom Homan will be managing ICE operations on the ground in Minnesota and coordinating with others on the ongoing fraud investigations," White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox News Digital Monday, referring to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations.
Homan is expected to arrive in Minnesota Monday evening.
Trump told The Wall Street Journal Sunday that his administration is "reviewing everything" surrounding the case, but did not say whether the agent who shot Pretti acted appropriately.
The fatal shooting follows the Jan. 7 fatal ICE shooting of Renee Good, which sparked widespread backlash from Democrats and other critics of the administration that Good was "murdered" at the hands of the government.
Walz, along with other Democrat leaders from the Gopher State, repeatedly have come under Trump's ire for their handling of an ongoing sweeping fraud case that led to the administration deploying additional federal law enforcement officers to the Twin Cities at the start of January. Trump and the administration have pinned blame on Walz and other state leaders for causing chaos and protests in the city, claiming that their rhetoric has promoted agitators to confront law enforcement officers.
"Jacob Frey and Tim Walz have whipped these rioters into a frenzy and turned them loose to wreak havoc on Minneapolis," White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson told Fox Digital earlier in January after agitators disrupted church services to protest ICE Jan. 18. "Frey and Walz should be ashamed for inciting such chaos, but the Trump Administration will continue enforcing the law."