TRUMP AND MINNESOTA GOVERNOR TALK AFTER FATAL SHOOTING

They want to defuse crisis over deportation drive

January 28, 2026 00:00:00

Police tape hangs in front of a makeshift memorial at the site where a man identified as Alex Pretti was fatally shot by federal immigration agents trying to detain him, in Minneapolis on Monday — Reuters

MINNEAPOLIS, Jan 27 (Reuters): President Donald Trump and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz struck a conciliatory note after a private phone call on Monday, in a sign the two sides want to defuse a crisis over the Trump-ordered deportation drive that has left two U.S. citizens dead in Minneapolis.

Trump and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey spoke by telephone on Monday as well, and their subsequent remarks were also upbeat, a change from weeks of vitriolic public exchanges.

Another sign of a thaw was confirmation from a senior Trump administration official that Gregory Bovino, a top U.S. Border Patrol official who has been a lightning rod for criticism from Democrats and civil liberties activists, will be leaving Minnesota along with some of the agents deployed with him.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Trump's designated border czar, Tom Homan, would replace Bovino in the Midwestern state, at the helm of what the Trump administration has dubbed Operation Metro Surge.

Trump himself said earlier that Homan was being sent to Minnesota, adding that Homan had "not been involved" in the crackdown, but "knows and likes many of the people there."

Later on Monday, a different person familiar with the matter said Bovino had been stripped of his specially created title of "commander at large" of the Border Patrol and would return to his former job as a chief patrol agent along California's El Centro sector of the U.S.-Mexico border.

The source said Bovino would then soon retire. Another source confirmed Bovino would return to the El Centro sector but gave no further details.

Word of Bovino's demotion was first reported by The Atlantic on Monday, citing an official from the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees the Border Patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and two others with knowledge of the change. The Atlantic also said Bovino was expected to retire soon.

DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin disputed those reports, however, posting on X: "Chief Gregory Bovino has NOT been relieved of his duties."

Bovino has become a leading public face and outspoken advocate for Trump's deportation crackdowns, often seen leading groups of heavily armed federal agents roving city streets.