President Donald Trump is shifting gears in Minnesota. White House Border Czar Tom Homan, who had previously not been involved in that area, is being sent to lead the operation, and notably, he will report directly to the president, not DHS Secretary Kristi Noem.
That decision dovetails with a report from Fox News' Bill Melugin on Sunday evening, where over half a dozen immigration agents expressed frustration with the way DHS was handling things, specifically regarding how they messaged the recent shooting of anti-ICE protester Alex Pretti.
Related: Judge Blocks Evidence Destruction in Pretti Shooting Case
For context, here was what Melugin reported.
NEW: Since yesterday's deadly shooting in MN, I've talked to more than half a dozen federal sources involved immigration enforcement, including several in senior positions, who all tell me they have grown increasingly uneasy & frustrated w/ some of the claims & narratives DHS…
— Bill Melugin (@BillMelugin_) January 25, 2026
To summarize, the agents actually risking their lives on the streets didn't feel as if the messaging out of DHS was helping their situation, or worse, was actually making things more dangerous and less effective. Specifically, they noted the rush by Noem and Border Patrol official Greg Bovino to describe Pretti as a "domestic terrorist" who was carrying a gun to cause "maximum damage" and commit a massacre.
Whatever you think about the shooting of Pretti, there is no evidence, and plenty of counter evidence, to the idea that he was there on a mission to murder CBP officers. If that were his plan, he had ample opportunity to draw his weapon and fire long before he ended up pepper-sprayed on the ground. When the physical aspect of the confrontation began, he was being pulled backwards off the ground for detainment, not attempting to draw his weapon to shoot anyone.
That's not a commentary on whether the eventual shooting by the CBP will be found justified or not. Someone can both acknowledge that Pretti appeared to be concealed carrying without intent to use his gun, and that his resisting of arrest in the final seconds led to a chaotic situation where officers may have had a legitimate reason to believe he was a threat.
Why does it matter how DHS leadership chooses to message the situation? And why does it matter to the agents on the ground? Because the job is already difficult enough, and the tactical considerations in Minneapolis are complicated, to say the least. Maintaining as much credibility with the broader public is an important part of ensuring enforcement can continue without interruption, and just as importantly, be maximally effective without creating any unnecessary issues.
Trump clearly recognizes that, and he's ignoring the noise from many in the online world to make this change.
Trump says he’s sending Tom Homan to Minnesota tonight. He’ll “report directly to me,” Trump says: pic.twitter.com/5bQTL9cllK
— Shelby Talcott (@ShelbyTalcott) January 26, 2026
Nowhere in that statement does Trump say he's "surrendering" or backing down. Strategic and tactical considerations, whether that be regarding the operation on the ground or what is presented to the public, do not boil down to simply finding the nearest brick wall and repeatedly running into it. The president, who is smarter on this front than a lot of right-wing influencers who only see this through the prism of engagement, knows he can't lose the battle for the public and win the war on enforcement.
Sending Homan, whom I've said in the past is a far more credible and effective messenger on immigration enforcement than some others, is a signal that Trump wants to see things tightened up. Some of that will be in how operations are carried out on a day-to-day basis, but I think the bigger concern is ensuring fodder isn't handed to a left-wing that would love nothing more than to parlay all of this into election victories that tie Trump's hands and end this push to enforce immigration laws.
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