US President Donald Trump has said that Homeland Security chief Kristi Noem would remain in her job, despite a backlash over a fatal shooting by federal immigration agents in Minneapolis.
"No," Mr Trump told reporters at the White House when asked if Ms Noem would step down after the killing of 37-year-old nurse Alex Pretti, adding that she was doing a "very good job."
Mr Trump also rejected the "assassin" label used by a top aide to describe the Minnesota shooting victim but said that people could not go to protests with guns.
He said he did not agree with deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller's description of Alex Pretti.
"That being said, you can't have guns, you can't walk in with guns, you can't do that, but it's a very unfortunate incident," added MrTrump, referring to licensed gun owner Mr Pretti carrying a firearm that was taken off him before he was shot.
In a change of policy, Mr Trump's border czar, Tom Homan, was set to take over the president's sweeping immigration operation in Minneapolis today, as the White House tries to tamp down national outrage over the second fatal shooting of a US citizen this month by federal agents.
The move to install Mr Homan in place of top Border Patrol official Gregory Bovino, who sources said is leaving after having led most of Mr Trump's crackdowns in Democratic-led cities, is part of a broader reset by the president amid some advisers' concerns that the killing of 37-year-old Alex Pretti by federal agents could derail his immigration agenda.
Mr Trump spent the weekend huddling with senior advisers to reassess the administration's response to Mr Pretti's death on Saturday, according to a White House official and a source familiar with the talks.
The discussions included reducing the number of federal agents deployed to Minnesota, recalibrating the ICE (immigration and Customs Enforcement) mission in the state to focus more narrowly on deportations rather than broad enforcement operations and exploring greater coordination with state authorities.
Mr Trump also weighed whether immigration officers should be required to have body-worn cameras, as many police officers do, according to the White House official.
The killing of Mr Pretti, an ICU nurse shot multiple times by Border Patrol agents on Saturday during protests, has become a full-blown political crisis for Mr Trump, with even some Republicans in Congress calling for investigations.
Coupled with the fatal shooting of 37-year-old Renee Good earlier this month by an ICE officer, Mr Pretti's shooting prompted renewed anger over the aggressive tactics of some 3,000 federal agents who have been roving the streets of Minneapolis for weeks.
Late yesterday, Minnesota's chief federal judge ordered the acting head of ICE, Todd Lyons, to appear for a contempt hearing on Friday after the judge said the agency failed to comply with court orders that some detainees receive bond hearings.
"The court's patience is at an end," US District Judge Patrick Schiltz wrote.
Warning: Video contains distressing material
Bystander video of Mr Pretti's killing was widely shared, contradicting some Trump officials' initial claims that Mr Pretti, who was legally carrying a concealed gun but never touched it prior to being shot, posed a threat to law enforcement.
Public support for Mr Trump's immigration enforcement tactics appeared to be waning both before and after the shooting of Mr Pretti, a Reuters/Ipsos poll showed.
Some Republicans have voiced concern that without a shift in tactics, Mr Trump's mass deportation push could cost the party its congressional majorities in November's midterm elections.
The president held a two-hour meeting with Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem in the Oval Office yesterday evening after Ms Noem asked to meet, a source briefed on the matter confirmed. Ms Noem's job is not in jeopardy, the source said. The New York Times first reported the meeting.
The typically combative Mr Trump has also struck a more conciliatory tone in public remarks. He characterised private conversations with both Governor Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey yesterday as productive, while the two Democratic leaders offered similarly positive comments, a far cry from the vitriol the two sides had previously exchanged.
Mr Walz's office said Mr Trump had agreed to direct DHS (Department of Homeland Security) to ensure state authorities could conduct their own investigation into the Pretti shooting, while Mr Frey said on X that his understanding was that some federal agents would begin leaving the city today.
Privately, Mr Trump made clear to advisers he did not want to defend the agent's actions or attack Mr Pretti, after Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller labelled Mr Pretti an "assassin" and Mr Bovino suggested he intended to "massacre" officers, among other attacks from administration officials. Video footage of the incident verified by Reuters contradicted those allegations.
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Senior aides were asked not to target Mr Pretti publicly, and the president discussed distancing himself from public comments made by Mr Miller and Ms Noem, the White House official said.
Mr Bovino, who said the officers who killed Mr Pretti were the true victims in Saturday's shooting, is expected to depart Minneapolis along with some Border Patrol agents deployed with him, a senior administration official said yesterday.
Another person familiar with the matter said Mr Bovino had been stripped of his specially created title of "commander at large" of the Border Patrol and would return to his former job as a chief patrol agent along California's El Centro sector of the US-Mexico border, before retiring soon after.
DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin disputed those reports, posting on X yesterday: "Chief Gregory Bovino has NOT been relieved of his duties."
DHS officials described the incident as an attack by Mr Pretti, saying agents fired in self-defence after he approached them with a handgun, even though video showed Mr Pretti holding a phone, not a gun, as agents wrestled him to the ground.
It also showed officers removing a firearm from his waistband after he was subdued, moments before they fatally shot him. Mr Pretti was a licensed gun owner.
In another sign that support for Mr Trump's immigration drive in Minnesota was weakening, a leading Republican candidate for governor in the state, Chris Madel, dropped his bid yesterday, saying the crackdown had gone too far.
"I cannot support the national Republicans' stated retribution on the citizens of our state, nor can I count myself a member of a party that would do so," he said in a video statement.
