ICE agents patrol a neighborhood where Renee Good was shot and killed by federal agent nearby on Portland Avenue, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on January 28, 2026. US President Donald Trump said on January 27 that he w... ICE agents patrol a neighborhood where Renee Good was shot and killed by federal agent nearby on Portland Avenue, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on January 28, 2026. US President Donald Trump said on January 27 that he would "de-escalate a little bit" in Minneapolis after the fatal shootings of two civilians fueled a storm of criticism over his signature immigration crackdown. Trump's "border czar" Tom Homan met with officials in the city as the Republican attempted damage control after the killing by immigration agents of 37-year-old nurse Alex Pretti on Saturday. (Photo by Octavio JONES / AFP via Getty Images) MORE LESS

Big public and political fights often have the dynamics of military confrontations. The ongoing backlash and outcry over the ICE murder of Alex Pretti is one such example. Over the first days of this week, the Trump White House lost its footing on the whole issue of ICE wilding sprees in Blue cities. As we discussed yesterday, they’re trying to manage what amounts to a live-action rebranding, telling the public they’re getting things back into line without, if possible, changing anything. But the White House’s public line on ICE and its Blue state wilding sprees has been so categorical and over-the-top it’s a really tough pivot. It’s hard to get your footing when you’re rapidly going from “ICE is our warrior force against immigrant-befouled hellholes run by domestic terrorists” to “we need a real investigation and ICE probably shouldn’t be murdering this many people.”

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