Exposed: The 'fortuitous timing' behind Trump's abrupt drawdown in Minneapolis

Kristi Noem addressing members of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee on January 17, 2025 (Maxim Elramsisy/Shutterstock.com)

President Donald Trump's administration rapidly withdrawing federal agents from the Minneapolis-St. Paul area was done to prevent Minnesota officials from obtaining federal records.

That's according to a new court filing the Trump administration submitted Thursday to U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota. Politico legal correspondent Josh Gerstein tweeted a link to the filing, noting that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) had "fortuitous timing" behind the recent announcement that the DHS was ending "Operation Metro Surge."

The DHS' filing alleges that the State of Minnesota and Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison (D) want to go on a "fishing expedition" to obtain records about federal immigration enforcement operations in the Gopher State. The administration argued against Minnesota's motion for expedited discovery by pointing to Thursday's announcement by White House immigration advisor Tom Homan that all federal agents had been pulled out of Minneapolis.

"The unjustified nature of Plaintiffs’ request becomes even more apparent in the light of today’s announcement that Operation Metro Surge will conclude because of the significant progress that has been made in arresting public safety threats as well as the increased cooperation from state and local authorities," the filing read. "This significant development undercuts any need for this case to proceed on an expedited schedule at all ... the Court should deny plaintiffs' motion."

Homan's announcement that he was withdrawing agents from Minnesota's largest city comes after weeks of sustained and escalating protests in the wake of federal agents killing U.S. citizens Renee Good and Alex Pretti. And Homan's claim of lowering violent crime is questionable, given that the Minneapolis-St. Paul area saw a "drastic decline in murders" between 2024 and 2025, according to Axios.

Additionally, Minnesota Public Radio reported in October that crime in the Minneapolis area has been on a steady decline since 2020 and 2021. The drop in murders, carjackings, robberies and homicides took place well before the Trump administration deployed federal agents to Minneapolis in January.

Following Homan's announcement, MS NOW host Mika Brzezinski argued that the "public is safer in Minneapolis if [U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement] gets out" of the city, given agents' pattern of shooting, tear-gassing and pepper-spraying citizens.

"[T]hey didn't go after the worst of the worst," Brzezinski said. "They say they are now — and in a condescending way — say that Minnesota's finally working with them to go into the prisons. No, you are cowering away with your tail between your legs and going toward the prisons."

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