Trump seeks 'off-ramp' in Minnesota after second deadly shooting sparks backlash

Kristi Noem speaks in the Oval Office next to Donald Trump earlier this month. Photograph: Nathan Howard/Reuters

President Donald Trump appeared to be seeking to defuse bipartisan nationwide condemnation of the actions of federal agents in Minnesota after the second killing of a U.S. citizen in Minneapolis in under three weeks.

“Governor Tim Walz called me with the request to work together with respect to Minnesota,” Trump wrote on Truth Social late Monday morning. “It was a very good call, and we, actually, seemed to be on a similar wavelength.”

After announcing earlier that he was sending his border czar to Minneapolis, Trump said that he told Walz that he would have Tom Homan call him, “and that what we are looking for are any and all Criminals that they have in their possession.”

“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!”

Trump also said that “both Governor Walz and I want to make it better!”

Politico’s Kyle Cheney reported that “Trump appears to be seeking an off ramp, amid signs public opinion has soured on the aggressive immigration offensive in Minnesota — an increasing legal pushback. He even has some gentle praise for Walz.”

The Bulwark’s Sam Stein noted that Trump is “clearly now looking for a way to tone down” in Minnesota.

“The walk-back begins,” wrote journalist Ahmed Baba. “Whatever changes Trump makes with DHS, ICE, & its presence in Minnesota it is not out of decency. It’s a political calculation because GOP is worried about the midterms. But the damage is done. Americans see his cruel, authoritarian project for what it is.”

Just past midnight, The Wall Street Journal reported that Trump had “fielded dozens of calls over the weekend from administration officials and senators, advisers said, with some worrying that public sentiment has turned against the administration’s immigration-enforcement actions.”

“Some of the president’s aides have come to see the increasingly volatile situation in Minneapolis as a political liability and believe the White House should be looking for an off-ramp, according to administration officials. However, others in the administration believe that ending the current efforts in Minneapolis would be a capitulation to the left, officials said.”

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