Listen to this article with a free account
President Donald Trump and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz spoke by phone Monday, a call both men praised and one that signals a potential path forward to ease the boiling tensions in the state created by two shooting deaths by federal immigration agents.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump said the Democratic leader requested that they “work together.”
“It was a very good call, and we, actually, seemed to be on a similar wavelength,” Trump wrote.
It marks a noticeable shift in the way the president has talked about Walz, whom he’s repeatedly criticized for his handling of a fraud scandal in Minnesota and blamed for unrest that has led to federal officers shooting and killing two people in recent weeks.
As recently as Saturday, after a federal agent’s fatal shooting of Alex Pretti, Trump accused Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, who is also a Democrat, of “inciting Insurrection, with their pompous, dangerous, and arrogant rhetoric” and slammed them as “sanctimonious political fools.”
In a post on Truth Social, Trump said Walz called him and that during the conversation he told Walz that he’d have border czar Tom Homan reach out. Trump publicly announced Monday morning that he was sending Homan to Minnesota in the wake of the outcry over the fatal shooting of Pretti, an ICU nurse.
Trump said he told Walz that his team is focused on looking for “any and all Criminals that they have in their possession.”
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt elaborated at the news briefing Monday afternoon, saying Trump’s team wanted Minnesota to turn over “criminal illegal aliens currently incarcerated in their prisons and jails to federal authorities.” She said the White House also expected state and local officials to turn over undocumented immigrants arrested by local police, who must also assist federal law enforcement in apprehension efforts.
“The Governor, very respectfully, understood that, and I will be speaking to him in the near future. He was happy that Tom Homan was going to Minnesota, and so am I,” Trump wrote.
Walz’s office confirmed in a statement that he held a “productive” call with Trump on Monday.
His office said Trump agreed to speak to the Department of Homeland Security to ensure that “state investigators are able to conduct independent investigations into the federal officers’ shootings of Pretti and Renee Nicole Good.
“The President also agreed to look into reducing the number of federal agents in Minnesota and working with the state in a more coordinated fashion on immigration enforcement regarding violent criminals,” Walz’s office said.
But in a Wall Street Journal op-ed Monday, Walz pushed back on the White House’s claims that Minnesota wasn’t providing any cooperation on law enforcement.
“The Minnesota Department of Corrections honors all federal and local detainers by notifying Immigration and Customs Enforcement when a person committed to its custody isn’t a U.S. citizen. There is not a single documented case of the department’s releasing someone from state prison without offering to ensure a smooth transfer of custody,” he wrote.
Walz’s statement also signals a more positive tone than the governor’s previous statements on Trump.
On Sunday, Walz criticized Trump for having “underestimated” the people of Minnesota.
“What’s the plan, Donald Trump? What is the plan?” Walz said during a news conference. “What do we need to do to get these federal agents out of our state? If fear, violence and chaos is what you wanted from us, then you clearly underestimated the people of this state and nation.”
The White House did not immediately return a request for comment on more information about the call.
Walz and White House chief of staff Susie Wiles spoke twice on Saturday, according to a person familiar with the discussions inside the White House.
Trump’s post comes two days after a federal agent shot and killed Pretti, 37, in Minneapolis — the city’s second fatal shooting by a federal officer this month.
It also comes as the administration has received significant pushback, including from some in its base, about its response to the shooting. Top administration officials quickly tried to portray Pretti as someone who was dangerous because he was carrying a gun — which he was legally permitted to do — and said he wanted to “massacre law enforcement” and was “brandishing” his weapon. Video evidence, however, has contradicted the administration’s depiction of events.
“We certainly should not be labeling him as a domestic terrorist who was going to execute cops,” former Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., said on Fox News on Monday morning. “There is no evidence to support that.”
Adam Edelman is a politics reporter for NBC News.
