President Donald Trump said Tuesday a “big investigation” was underway into the killing of protester and ICU nurse Alex Pretti by federal agents in Minneapolis.
“I want to see the investigation. I’m going to be watching over it, and I want a very honorable and honest investigation. I have to see it myself,” the president said as he left the White House for a trip to Iowa.
The comment is the latest marker of Trump’s turnabout on the issue as his administration confronts growing pushback — including from some Republicans and Second Amendment advocates — on federal agents’ tactics in a second fatal shooting in Minnesota. Trump didn’t address the first fatal shooting, of Renee Good on Jan. 7, but called Pretti’s killing “unfortunate.”
“We view that as a very unfortunate incident, OK?” Trump said as he greeted diners Tuesday in a Des Moines-area restaurant, adding that everyone, “unless you’re a stupid person,” viewed it that way.
In comments that were likely to further irritate his backers who are also strong Second Amendment supports, he said: “I don’t like that he had a gun. I don’t like that he had two fully loaded magazines. That’s a lot of bad stuff.”
Trump was asked if Pretti was an “assassin” as a key aide has claimed and answered “no.”
On Saturday, White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller on social media described Pretti as an “assassin” who “tried to murder federal agents.” Vice President JD Vance shared the post on X as well.
He was also asked about Pretti’s family and said: “I love everybody. I love all of our people. I love his family. And it’s a very sad situation.”
Trump sent his border czar Tom Homan to Minneapolis and said on Tuesday that Homan was meeting with Mayor Jacob Frey and Gov. Tim Walz.
Dressed as the Minnesota version of Lady Justice, Mina Leierwood, an art teacher from Minneapolis, stands outside the Minnesota State Capitol building in St. Paul on Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2026. Leierwood wanted to know, “When will there be justice for Renee Good, for Alex Pretti and for Liam Conejo Ramos, the 5-year-old kidnapped by ICE?” (John Autey / Pioneer Press)
“Governor Walz met with Tom Homan this morning and reiterated Minnesota’s priorities: impartial investigations into the Minneapolis shootings involving federal agents, a swift, significant reduction in the number of federal forces in Minnesota, and an end to the campaign of retribution against Minnesota,” the governor’s office announced.
“The Governor and Homan agreed on the need for an ongoing dialogue and will continue working toward those goals, which the President also agreed to yesterday. The Governor tasked the Minnesota Department of Public Safety as the primary liaison to Homan to ensure these goals are met,” the statement said.
Meanwhile, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said he hopes Trump’s “Operation Metro Surge” will end immediately.
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Asked Tuesday on MS NOW’s “Morning Joe” if Trump’s newly posture has led to more federal cooperation with state and local officials, Ellison said “not that I’ve seen so far.”
“You should understand, Minnesota is abiding by the law as written. We, under the 10th Amendment, the federal government doesn’t have the authority to convert us into its deputies,” Ellison said. “And what the federal government has done is said, ‘well, if you don’t do it our way, we’re going to saturate your state with 4,000 ICE agents until you cry uncle and obey.’ And that’s unconstitutional and illegal.”
“It’s a good thing” Trump talked with Minnesota’s governor and Minneapolis’ mayor, Ellison said. “But we need to see some results … they’ve got to show, not just say.”
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