White House is ‘spooked’ by the mounting U.S. backlash to Trump’s immigration crackdown
No longer confined to the partisans and activists, the fierce backlash against Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown has begun to break out across American culture, spanning the worlds of business, sports and entertainment.
Bruce Springsteen released a new song Wednesday that slammed “Trump’s federal thugs.” OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman told employees that “what’s happening with ICE is going too far,” referring to Immigration and Customs Enforcement. And lifestyle icon Martha Stewart lamented that “we can be attacked and even killed.”
“Things must and have to change quickly and peacefully,” Stewart wrote to her 2.9 million Instagram followers this week.
A little more than one year into his second term, Trump is facing a broad cultural revolt that threatens to undermine his signature domestic priority, the Republican Party’s grip on power and his own political strength ahead of the midterm elections.
Trump, a former reality television star often attuned to changes in public opinion, tried to shift the conversation this week by dispatching border czar Tom Homan to Minnesota to replace Greg Bovino, a Border Patrol commander who has been a lightning rod.
But it’s unclear if the move will change anything on the ground.
Thousands of federal agents remain in Minnesota, where two U.S. citizens have been killed and communities have felt besieged by Trump’s crackdown. Meanwhile, operations have expanded into Maine as well.
White House is ‘spooked’
Republican strategist Doug Heye said it’s too soon to know whether Trump’s attempt to control the fallout will work. He’s been in communication with Republican leaders across Washington in recent days who are worried that the escalating situation could jeopardize control of Congress in this fall’s midterm elections.
“It’s very clear that the administration is spooked,” Heye said.
And while some in the party may be concerned, Trump’s Make America Great Again base remains largely unified behind him and the immigration crackdown that he promised repeatedly on the campaign trail. They’re pushing the president not to back down.
“It’s time for President Trump to ramp up mass deportations even more,” Laura Loomer, a Trump loyalist who has the president’s ear, told The Associated Press. “And if Minnesota is any barometer, it’s time for the focus to be on deporting as many Muslims as possible.”
Such advice is at odds with a growing faction of prominent voices across American culture.
Who is speaking out?
Joe Rogan, a leading podcast host who endorsed Trump during his comeback campaign, said he sympathizes with concerns about immigration agents’ tactics.
“Are we really going to be the Gestapo?” Rogan said. “‘Where’s your papers?’ Is that what we’ve come to?”
Over the weekend, more than 60 corporate executives, including the leaders of Target, Best Buy and UnitedHealth, released a public letter calling for de-escalation following the death of Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old Veterans Affairs nurse fatally shot during a confrontation with federal agents.
The outcry intensified as the week progressed.
Apple CEO Tim Cook on Tuesday issued a memo to employees saying he was “heartbroken by the events in Minneapolis.”
“I believe America is strongest when we live up to our highest ideals, when we treat everyone with dignity and respect no matter who they are or where they’re from, and when we embrace our shared humanity,” Cook wrote in the memo, first reported by Bloomberg News.
Tech billionaire and venture capitalist Vinod Khosla used stronger language on social media to condemn “macho ICE vigilantes running amuck.”
Jason Calacanis, a prominent tech podcaster, on Wednesday warned of dire consequences for Trump if he does not make sweeping changes among the people running the immigration crackdown.
“President Trump needs to replace them all and reverse his plummeting ratings, or the entire Trump 2.0 agenda is over,” Calacanis wrote to his 1 million X followers. “America needs to put this dark and disgusting chapter behind us and unite behind a crisper immigration policy.”
Actors and musicians speak up
More outrage came from the entertainment industry, which is often viewed as a liberal bastion.
Springsteen dropped his new song, “The Streets of Minneapolis,” on Wednesday. The famed musician referenced Pretti’s death directly.
“Trump’s federal thugs beat up on his face and his chest. Then we heard the gunshots. And Alex Pretti lay in the snow, dead,” Springsteen sings.
Other actors and entertainers who spoke out in recent days include Natalie Portman, Elijah Wood, Olivia Rodrigo and Billie Eilish. Actor Mark Ruffalo described Pretti’s death as “cold-blooded murder.”
The sports world has also begun to engage.
Minnesota Timberwolves head coach Chris Finch called the shootings “unconscionable” and expressed support for protesters. So did superstar NBA player Steph Curry.
“There’s a lot of change that needs to happen,” Curry, who plays for the Golden State Warriors, told reporters this week. He said he’s been glued to news coverage of the latest Minnesota shooting.
Guerschon Yabusele, of the New York Knicks, went further the day after Pretti’s shooting.
“I can’t remain silent. What’s happening is beyond comprehension,” he wrote on X. “We’re talking about murders here, these are serious matters. The situation must change, the government must stop operating in this way. I stand with Minnesota.”
Trump may be getting the message
Trump appears to be softening his tone on immigration — at least by his standards.
“We’re going to de-escalate a little bit,” he said during a Tuesday interview on Fox News. He also chided Bovino, whom he displaced from his role.
“Bovino is very good, but he’s a pretty out-there kind of a guy,” he said. “In some cases, that’s good. Maybe it wasn’t good here.”
But Trump pushed back on the characterization that he was scaling back his operations in Minnesota. And in a social media post, he warned Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey that he was “PLAYING WITH FIRE” by refusing to enforce federal immigration laws.
Even before Pretti’s death Saturday, public opinion was starting to turn against Trump on immigration, which was among his strongest issues at the beginning of his second term.
Just 38% of U.S. adults approve of how Trump is handling immigration, down from 49% in March. That’s according to an AP-NORC poll conducted Jan. 8-11, shortly after the first shooting death of a U.S. citizen in Minnesota.
There’s also some indication that Trump’s approval on immigration could be slipping among Republicans. The president’s approval among self-described Republicans fell from 88% in March to 76% in the January AP-NORC poll.
A separate Fox News poll, which was conducted Friday through Monday, found that 59% of voters described ICE as “too aggressive,” a 10-point increase since last July.
AP writer Linley Sanders in Washington contributed.
—Steve Peoples, AP National Political Writer