President Donald Trump says it was his decision to pull 700 immigration agents out of Minneapolis. He said it was part of the administration’s efforts to adopt a “softer touch” on immigration.
700 troops withdraw
The president made the comment in a sit-down interview with NBC News anchor Tom Llamas, just hours after Border Czar Tom Homan announced that some immigration agents were withdrawing from Minnesota.
“We’re not walking away from our mission,” Homan said. “This is smart law enforcement.”
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The drawback still leaves around 2,300 agents still in the city, as immigration efforts continue.
But as Trump stated, the administration is working to dial down tensions. When asked what he’s learned from the effort in Minneapolis, Trump said, “I learned that maybe we could use a little bit of a softer touch. But you still have to be tough. These are crim— we’re dealing with really hard criminals.”
This, after federal officials shot and killed two protesters last month.
What Trump said
In Wednesday’s interview, the president blamed his predecessor, Joe Biden, for what he called an open-border policy, saying that millions had entered the country and that it’s now his job to remove them.
The president called the deaths of Renee Good and Alex Petti, both of whom were killed during confrontations with ICE and border patrol agents, very sad incidents that should not have happened.
“Well, look — I’m not happy with the two incidents. It’s not — you know, it’s — both of ‘em. Not one or the other. Uh — he was not an angel, and she was not an angel. You know, you look at some tapes from back — but still, I’m not happy with what happened there,” Trump said. “Nobody can be happy and ICE wasn’t happy either. But I’m gonna always be with our great people of law enforcement. ICE, police, we have to back them. If we don’t back them, we don’t have a country.”
He added that the effort in Minnesota is focused on the “worst of the worst.”
“We are totally focused on criminals, really bad criminals,” Trump said. “Now you could say that people who came in illegally are criminals, but I’m talking about murderers from different countries,” he said.
Trump also said five other cities are now on the list for expanded ICE operations, with announcements expected soon. He did not share which cities he’s targeting, however.
“We have five cities that we’re looking at very strongly, but we want to be invited,” Trump said. He signaled some reluctance to go to cities where agents would face resistance from local officials.
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Other topics discussed
During his sit-down with Llamas, the president also discussed the Federal Reserve, questioning it’s independance; assessments of two of his potential Republican successors, and his plans to build an arch in Washington D.C.
He also touched on recent headlines, including artificial intelligence, Netflix’s potential purchase of Warner Bros., and the ongoing issues in Iran.
