Trump Sticks to Quiet Weekend Schedule as Backlash Over Alex Pretti’s Death Grows

President Donald Trump and the White House have offered a muted response in the day since federal agents fatally shot a second civilian in Minnesota.

Videos of the killing of Alex Pretti in Minneapolis on Saturday circulating online have prompted even members of Trump’s party to say they’re concerned by the deaths and unrest in the city as the administration’s deportation campaign continues.

As of Sunday afternoon, the president has been quiet about Pretti’s killing outside of Truth Social posts. He stuck to his planned schedule and has made no public appearances since Friday. A private screening of “MELANIA,” a documentary about the first lady, hosted on Saturday by the White House moved ahead.

Trump explicitly referenced the shooting in one post on Saturday, and in another Sunday he blamed Democrats for the deaths of “two American Citizens.” None of his posts over the weekend name Pretti, or address calls from Democratic officials for federal agents to leave the state. Instead, the president has linked Pretti’s killing to the “massive Financial Fraud” that has been the subject of federal investigations in Minnesota.

“Much of what you’re witnessing is a COVER UP for this Theft and Fraud. The Mayor and the Governor are inciting Insurrection, with their pompous, dangerous, and arrogant rhetoric,” Trump said in his first post about the incident on Saturday. “Instead, these sanctimonious political fools should be looking for the Billions of Dollars that have been stolen from the people of Minnesota, and the United States of America. LET OUR ICE PATRIOTS DO THEIR JOB!”

On Sunday, he continued to rail against Democrats and called on them to cooperate with his administration on his immigration agenda with a series of requests. Trump wrote that Democratic officials should instruct local law enforcement to work with federal immigration enforcement efforts, and called on Congress to pass laws banning sanctuary cities.

“Tragically, two American Citizens have lost their lives as a result of this Democrat ensued chaos,” Trump said in a Truth Social post.

The post was one of many from Trump over the weekend, on everything from emergency declarations related to the winter storm pummeling much of the country to a longer post about his White House construction project.

“I’m building, on top of everything else that I am doing, one of the greatest and most beautiful Ballrooms anywhere in the World, with more than 300 Million Dollars of Great American Patriots’ money, and working closely with, right from the beginning, the United States Military and Secret Service,” he wrote.

Few White House officials have commented publicly about the killing, though Homeland Security adviser Stephen Miller called Pretti a “would-be assassin” who “tried to murder federal law enforcement.” Bystander videos of the incident do not appear to show Pretti as a threat to the federal agents.

Most of the administration’s response has been fielded through the Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security.

Pretti was an intensive care unit nurse who was armed when he first encountered the federal agents. State officials have said he was lawfully permitted to conceal carry. The administration has pointed to the weapon as part of its defense of the federal agent’s actions. That has prompted backlash from Second Amendment advocates.

NOTUS asked the White House whether the Trump administration believes Pretti had a gun drawn at the time he was shot, and whether ICE considers a lawful conceal carry in the presence of federal law enforcement an inherent threat.

The White House referred NOTUS to Border Patrol Commander Greg Bovino’s comments in an interview with CNN on Sunday morning, where Bovino dodged questions about whether Pretti drew his gun, saying that Pretti was at fault for injecting himself into CBP’s enforcement efforts.

“I believe that all citizens of the United States have those First and Fourth Amendment rights as long as they do so peacefully, and don’t delay, obstruct, or assault anyone in doing that. And that’s the issue here, because he was not peacefully doing anything,” Bovino said.

Bovino said Saturday that Pretti approached CBP officers with a handgun, and that federal agents were unable to disarm him, leading to them firing “defensive shots.” Multiple bystander videos of the shooting do not appear to substantiate that conclusion. Asked about whether the officer had his gun drawn Sunday, Bovino said he wasn’t going to “adjudicate that here on TV in one freeze frame.”

Pretti’s death has drawn heightened scrutiny from Democrats, including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, who is now threatening a government shutdown over ICE funding. Republicans, such as Sens. Thom Tillis and Bill Cassidy have called for investigations.

“If I were President Trump, I would almost think about, OK, if the mayor and governor are going put our ICE officials in harm’s way and there’s a chance of losing more innocent lives, or whatever, then maybe go to another city and let the people of Minneapolis decide: Do we want to continue to have all of these illegals?” House Oversight Committee Chair Rep. James Comer said Sunday in a Fox News interview.

Trump apparently watched the interview with Comer.

“Highly Respected Congressman Jamie Comer was GREAT in his Interview this morning with Maria Bartiromo,” Trump said in a social media post. “He said it all concerning Minnesota, Deranged Jack Smith, and many other topics of interest. Jamie is doing a fantastic job!”

The killings have heightened the tension building on the ground as residents of the blue state protest the immigration enforcement operation underway. Pretti’s death happened less than three weeks after a federal agent shot and killed a woman in Minneapolis, Renee Good. Recent polling shows the popularity of the Trump administration’s immigration policy is at historic lows.

According to Axios, the president has privately expressed discomfort about his administration’s immigration agenda. In a Jan. 20 press conference and in a post on Truth Social, Trump lamented the need for his administration to emphasize the “murderers and other criminals that they are capturing and taking out of the system.”

“Sometimes ICE is going to be too rough with somebody. Or, you know, they’re dealing with rough people, they’re going to make a mistake. Sometimes it can happen,” he said in a briefing last week. “I felt horribly when I was told that the young woman who was — uh— who had the tragedy. It’s a tragedy. It’s a horrible thing.”