In a telephone interview with the Wall Street Journal, Donald Trump seems open to the possibility of withdrawing ICE from Minneapolis, although without indicating the timing. “At some point we will leave. We have done, they have done a phenomenal job,” the American president said. Asked whether the agents would leave soon, he praised what the administration has already done in Minnesota and responded: “We’re going to leave a different group of people there for financial fraud.” Trump has pointed to a vast social services fraud scandal in the state as justification for stepping up immigration enforcement.
A hero or a terrorist: war of narratives on the killing of Pretti
“A hero”, for parents, friends and colleagues and many Americans who take to the streets. A “domestic terrorist” for the US government. There is a war of narratives over the killing of Alex Pretti, the 37-year-old Italian-American nurse who died on Saturday in Minneapolis with a dozen bullets fired at point-blank range by one or perhaps more border police agents during a raid by Ice, the anti-immigration agency. A contrast that increases divisions and tensions in a climate that is already civil war for some, while the governor of Minnesota Tim Walz mobilizes the national guard to try to maintain calm in the city.
“It’s the Dems’ fault”
Donald Trump places the blame for what happened in Minneapolis on the Dems, accusing them not only of collaborating with federal agents – unlike the Republican states – and of encouraging “left-wing agitators to illegally obstruct their operations to arrest the worst of the worse”https://gazzettadelsud.it/articoli/mondo/2026/01/26/minneapolis-trump-accusa-il-caos-dei-dem-ma-planifica-il-ritiro-dellice-919621fb-d09b-42ec-9eaa-a8acd92d8895/.”In doing so – he writes in Truth – the Dems are putting criminal illegal immigrants to above tax-paying, law-abiding citizens, and created dangerous circumstances for all involved. Tragically, two American citizens lost their lives as a result of this chaos caused by Democrats”https://gazzettadelsud.it/articoli/mondo/2026/01/26/minneapolis-trump-accusa-il-caos-dei-dem-ma-planifica-il-ritiro-dellice-919621fb-d09b-42ec-9eaa-a8acd92d8895/.”During the four years of the corrupt Joe Biden and the failed Democratic leadership – claims the president – tens of millions of criminal illegal immigrants have flowed into our country, including hundreds of thousands of convicted murderers, rapists, kidnappers, drug traffickers and terrorists.”
“I won the election,” he continues, “in a historic landslide, and the Republicans won majorities in both the House and the Senate, in large part because we committed to sealing the border, which we did, and initiating the largest mass deportation of criminal illegal immigrants in American history. This deportation effort is ongoing, and in cities and states led by Republicans, these operations are taking place in a peaceful and orderly manner, because local law enforcement agencies are allowed to collaborate with their federal counterparts. For example, in the five Republican-led states — Texas, Georgia, Florida, Tennessee and Louisiana — ICE has arrested 150,245 criminal illegal immigrants in the last year, with zero protests, riots or chaos. Why? Because local police and ICE cooperate and work together”https://gazzettadelsud.it/articoli/mondo/2026/01/26/minneapolis-trump-accusa-il-caos-dei-dem-ma-planifica-il-ritiro-dellice-919621fb-d09b-42ec-9eaa-a8acd92d8895/.”Meanwhile, Democrat-led sanctuary cities and states refuse to cooperate with Ice and are even encouraging left-wing agitators to illegally obstruct their operations to arrest the worst of the worst!”, he concludes, pointing the finger at the opposition.
Trump defends the officer who shot and criticizes Pretti
Trump refused to say whether the federal agent who fatally shot him acted appropriately and said the administration was reviewing the incident. In a brief telephone interview with the Wall Street Journal, the tycoon did not respond directly when asked twice whether the officer who shot Alex Pretti had acted correctly. Pressed further, the president said: “We are examining and evaluating everything and we will make a decision on it.” So far he and top administration officials have publicly defended the agent.
Trump criticized Pretti for carrying a gun during the protests. “I don’t like shooting. I don’t like it,” the president added in the interview. “But I don’t like it when someone goes to a protest and has a very powerful gun, fully loaded, with two magazines full of bullets. That’s also not a good sign,” he explained. Trump said Pretti was carrying “a very dangerous weapon, a dangerous and unpredictable weapon,” adding: “It’s a weapon that fires when people don’t realize it.” The Department of Homeland Security said Pretti was carrying a 9 mm semiautomatic pistol.
A US judge rejects the revocation of status of 8,400 immigrants from 7 South American countries
Meanwhile, a federal judge has blocked the Trump administration’s attempt to revoke the legal status of more than 8,400 family members of U.S. citizens and green card holders who moved to the United States from seven Latin American countries. Boston-based U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani issued a preliminary injunction preventing the Department of Homeland Security from ending humanitarian relief granted to thousands of people from Cuba, Haiti, Colombia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras.
Bill Clinton, ‘Trump lies, US citizens stand up and speak’
Former American President Bill Clinton urged Americans to “stand up and speak”, denouncing the “horrific scenes” in Minneapolis where two US citizens were killed by Ice agents. “It is incumbent on all of us who believe in the promise of American democracy to stand up and speak,” the former Democratic leader said, adding that the Trump administration “lied to us” about the two deaths.
The Obamas, Minneapolis is a wake-up call
Former US President Barack Obama (2009-2017) and his wife, Michelle Obama, said in a statement that the death of a Minneapolis resident at the hands of a federal immigration agent “should be a wake-up call to all Americans, regardless of their political affiliation,” and criticized the Trump administration for “escalating the situation.”
“Federal law enforcement and immigration agents have a difficult job. But Americans expect them to carry out their duties legally and responsibly and to cooperate with state and local authorities, rather than resist, to ensure public safety,” the former Democratic president and former first lady underlined in the statement shared on social media.
The Obamas point out that in Minnesota the situation is “exactly the opposite”, as for weeks people across the country have been “outraged” that “masked” Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents “are acting with impunity and using tactics that appear designed to intimidate, harass, provoke and endanger residents of a major American city.” Tactics which, underlines the Democratic couple, led “to the fatal shooting of two American citizens”.
Also in Minneapolis, on January 7, ICE agents shot and killed a 37-year-old woman, Renee Good, in her vehicle during an operation.
The Obamas spoke out against the Trump administration’s actions: “Rather than attempt to impose some discipline and accountability on the agents they have deployed, the president and current administration officials appear eager to escalate the situation, while offering public explanations for the shootings of Pretty and Renee Good that are not based on any serious investigation and appear to be directly contradicted by the video evidence.”
“In the meantime, every American should support and be inspired by the wave of peaceful protests in Minneapolis and other parts of the country. They are a timely reminder that, ultimately, it is up to each of us as citizens to speak out against injustice, protect our fundamental freedoms, and hold our government to account,” the statement concludes.
Trump ally senator introduces bill against sanctuary cities
Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, a close ally of Donald Trump, has said he wants to introduce a bill to put an end to “sanctuary cities”, addressing what many of his party colleagues consider the main cause of the climate of tension in Minneapolis. The Wall Street Journal writes it.
Minnesota Governor rejects idea
The governor of Minnesota, Tim Walz, rejected the Trump administration’s request to repeal the so-called ‘sanctuary’ policies (those that protect migrants, ed.) and to share Medicaid, food assistance and electoral data with the federal government to “end the chaos in Minnesota”. CNN writes it. “It’s not a serious attempt,” Walz said. Attorney General Pam Bondi sent a letter to Walz on Saturday urging him to repeal the asylum policy and allow the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division access to the state’s voter rolls. President Donald Trump reiterated the calls yesterday, calling on Minnesota Democrats to “formally work with the Trump administration to enforce our nation’s laws, rather than resist and fan the flames of division, chaos and violence.”