White House rejects claims Trump administration 'backed down' on Minnesota immigration crackdown

WASHINGTON, DC: The White House rejected claims that the Trump administration backed down on Minnesota’s immigration crackdown, insisting its mission remains unchanged despite a leadership shakeup.

On Monday, January 26, officials replaced Border Patrol Commander Gregory Bovino with Tom Homan in Minneapolis after two fatal shootings and the resulting protests, saying the move reflects a strategic adjustment rather than a retreat.

White House denies backing down on ICE in Minnesota

The White House pushed back against claims that the Trump administration “backed down” on its immigration crackdown in Minnesota, saying it hasn’t changed its mission even though the leadership on the ground has shifted.

“Tom Homan is a patriot with decades of experience effectively protecting American communities and deporting criminal illegal aliens,” White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson told Fox News Digital.

She added, “Any left-wing agitator or criminal illegal alien who thinks Tom’s presence is a victory for their cause is sadly mistaken.”

Jackson said the Trump administration “will never waver in standing up for law and order and protecting the American people.”

A White House official also reported that claims the administration is “backing down” in Minnesota are wrong. The official said the administration “has not wavered” from its work to arrest and deport illegal immigrants, and that President Trump wants to prevent more violence and is working with state and local leaders to remove threats to public safety.

Trump rages over ‘paid agitators’ amid Minnesota tragedy

When the Fox News host of 'The Will Cain Show' asked Trump, "Is this a pullback?" Trump replied, "I don't think it's a pullback. It's a little bit of a change. Everybody in this room that has a business you know. You make little changes."

This comes a day after reports said Greg Bovino was expected to be moved back to El Centro, California, to resume his duties there, a shift that followed the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti by a Border Patrol agent on January 24.

Trump then praised Bovino, saying, "You know Bovino is very good, but he's a pretty out their kind of a guy." He added, "And in some cases it's good. Maybe it wasn't good here, but you haven't understood one."

Trump also said, "I watch some of the people that I've been watching over the last few weeks. These are paid insurrectionists. These are paid agitators." 

He continued, "These people aren't normal like OG that you know they're incense about anything. How do you get incense when you go into a state and you're taking criminals out?" 

Trump then criticized former President Joe Biden, saying, "You are taking a monster out of murderers you know We had 11,88 murderers led into by other countries by Biden with his open border stupid policy." 

He added, "It's the dumbest thing I've ever heard. You talk about bad policy, open borders where people were coming, so the whole world, the Congo, Venezuela, all over the world."

He went on, "They're letting people in from their prisons and they're feeding them into the United States. and they are murderers and there are drug dealers and everything else you can think of. And they let him in by the millions. We closed the body, you know, we have nobody coming into a country."