Report: Trump Sending In the Great Tom Homan to Personally Take Command in Minneapolis and Reassigning Bovino After Shooting
President Donald Trump announced that he would be sending border czar Tom Homan to Minnesota to personally handle the unrest in Minneapolis over Immigration and Customs Enforcement actions.
The announcement on Monday came after the shooting of Alex Pretti by ICE agents over the weekend. It came after reports that Gregory Bovino, the Border Patrol official who was in charge of the response, was being moved out of leadership of the situation.
“I am sending Tom Homan to Minnesota tonight. He has not been involved in that area, but knows and likes many of the people there. Tom is tough but fair, and will report directly to me,” Trump said on Truth Social, adding that his administration was continuing to investigate welfare fraud in the state.
Donald J. Trump Truth Social Post 08:31 AM EST 01.26.26 pic.twitter.com/JgD6sD3TPv
— Commentary Donald J. Trump Posts From Truth Social (@TrumpDailyPosts) January 26, 2026
Trump also announced that Homan would be meeting with Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey.
“Governor Tim Walz called me with the request to work together with respect to Minnesota. It was a very good call, and we, actually, seemed to be on a similar wavelength. I told Governor Walz that I would have Tom Homan call him, and that what we are looking for are any and all Criminals that they have in their possession,” Trump said in one post.
Donald J. Trump Truth Social Post 11:37 AM EST 01.26.26 pic.twitter.com/emSuBKb13W
— Commentary Donald J. Trump Posts From Truth Social (@TrumpDailyPosts) January 26, 2026
Trump added later, “I just had a very good telephone conversation with Mayor Jacob Frey, of Minneapolis. Lots of progress is being made! Tom Homan will be meeting with him tomorrow in order to continue the discussion.”
Donald J. Trump Truth Social Post 05:17 PM EST 01.26.26 pic.twitter.com/FN2ToF1xdJ
— Commentary Donald J. Trump Posts From Truth Social (@TrumpDailyPosts) January 27, 2026
The move wasn’t necessarily a surprise, as media reports from unnamed internal White House sources indicated Trump was unhappy with how the situation regarding the Pretti shooting was being handled.
While Pretti was armed, officials said, and footage showed him struggling with officers, the video footage of the incident raises more questions over how justified the shooting was in comparison to the death of Renee Good in Minneapolis earlier in the month.
CNN reported that Bovino’s social media battling with lawmakers after the shooting led to Department of Homeland Security officials taking away his access to his social media accounts. In addition, Bovino’s assertion that Pretti was going to “massacre” law enforcement did not go over well with top Trump officials.
The New York Times reported on Monday that the Trump administration acknowledged a “use of force” review regarding the Pretti shooting.
In addition, reports began to emerge that administration officials were displeased with DHS Secretary Kristi Noem’s echoing of Bovino’s response, including calling him a “domestic terrorist.”
“It was a horrible response,” an official told the Daily Wire. “Many people I’ve heard from say it was unprofessional. She doesn’t know what she’s doing.”
The New York Times reported late Monday that Noem had a two-hour meeting with the president at her request. The move seems to have smoothed over problems on that front, with sources telling the paper that Trump said Noem’s job wasn’t at risk.
However, other Republicans had begun to break with administration officials over the response — most notably Texas Sen. Ted Cruz.
“What I think the administration could do better is the tone with which they’re describing this — that immediately when an incident like this happens, they come out guns blazing, that ‘We took out a violent terrorist, hooray!’” he said Monday on his podcast.
Homan, while tough, has never struggled with either staying on message or getting people on the same page. Whether that can be done in Minnesota — where Democratic politicians have used the violent protests in the city to distract from a massive entitlement fraud scandal and rally the base — remains to be seen, but it’s also the obvious change to make.
In other words: If the rioters and agitators think Bovino leaving is a victory, they’re sorely mistaken. Homan is arguably the most able law enforcement officer working in America today, and he doesn’t mess around.
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![The U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum took Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz to task for comparing Immigration and Customs Enforcement actions to those of the Nazis who captured and killed Anne Frank. "Leaders making false equivalencies to [Frank's] experience for political purposes is never acceptable," the organization posted in a statement on social media.](https://www.westernjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Anne-Frank-vs-Tim-Walz-559x327.jpg)
