Karoline Leavitt says Trump wants Minnesota to work 'peacefully' with ICE: 'Let cops be cops'

MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA: President Donald Trump spoke directly with Minnesota Gov Tim Walz on Monday, January 26, urging state and local law enforcement to "work together peacefully" with federal authorities amid rising tensions over immigration enforcement in the state.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump’s goal is to "let cops be cops," condemning what she described as local encouragement of anti-ICE activists, which she blamed for the deaths of Renee Nicole Good and Alex Jeffrey Pretti earlier this month.

Leavitt added that Trump outlined "a clear and simple path to restoring law and order in Minnesota" during the conversation with Walz.

Trump demands local cooperation with ICE

Leavitt said Trump’s first demand is for Gov Walz, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, and Democratic leaders across the state to hand over all illegal aliens currently incarcerated, as well as any illegal aliens with "active warrants or known criminal histories."

Trump also called for state and local law enforcement to be allowed to hand over arrested illegal aliens and to assist in apprehending and detaining those wanted for crimes. "If Governor Walz and Mayor Frey implement these common sense cooperative measures ... Customs and Border Patrol will not be needed to support ICE on the ground in Minnesota," Leavitt said.

She added, "ICE and local law enforcement can peacefully work together as they are effectively doing in so many other states. We want to let cops be cops."

Trump urges end to chaos, sanctuary cities

Leavitt said the president’s conversation with Walz was aimed at halting resistance and unrest in the state. She emphasized that Trump wants "the resistance and chaos to end today" and called for local officials to cooperate with federal authorities to ensure public safety.

The push comes as Trump also urged Congress to pass legislation banning sanctuary cities, where local law enforcement is restricted from working with federal immigration authorities.

Walz acknowledged the call but disputed the administration’s characterization of the situation. In a statement on social media, he said, "I spoke to the President earlier. We had a productive conversation and I explained to him that his staff doesn’t have their facts straight about Minnesota."

Walz also shared an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal, arguing that federal presence in Minnesota has shifted from immigration enforcement to what he described as "a campaign of organized brutality against the people of our state."

He noted that state corrections comply with all federal and local detainers and that there have been no cases of releasing inmates without coordinating transfers to ICE custody.