Donald Trump said he “feels terrible” over the deaths of two U.S. citizens who were shot and killed by ICE agents in Minneapolis.
The president made the comments during an appearance on The Will Cain Show on Fox News in the wake of the killing of Alex Pretti, 37, and Renee Nicole Good, 37.
“Bottom line, it was terrible. Both of them were terrible; the other was terrible too,” Trump said Tuesday.
Highlights
- Trump expressed feeling terrible over the two Minneapolis ICE shooting deaths but linked his empathy to the victims’ political support for him.
- Renee Good’s parents were described as big Trump fans, influencing Trump’s personal feelings about her killing.
- Trump administration officials labeled both victims as domestic terrorists, a claim Trump later partly softened.
- Alex Pretti was shot after being restrained by ICE agents, with multiple shots fired while he lay wounded.
- Following tensions, Trump agreed to cooperate with Minnesota’s governor and Minneapolis mayor to ease the situation.
Donald Trump said he ‘feels terrible’ about the two Minneapolis killings
Image credits: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Trump also told Cain that Good’s death was arguably worse because her parents were “big Trump fans.”
“And I’m not sure about his [Pretti] parents, but I know her parents were big Trump fans, makes me feel bad anyway,” he added.
“But I guess you could say even worse, they were tremendous Trump people, Trump fans.”
It comes after senior officials in the Trump administration labeled Pretti, who was killed on January 24, as a “domestic terrorist” looking to “massacre law enforcement.”
Pretti was attempting to help a protester before he was thrown to the ground by several ICE agents and repeatedly struck.
While he was on the ground, an ICE agent approached him and appeared to remove a gun from his waistband, then stepped away from the scuffle.
At least 10 gunshots were then heard ringing out, with five of those believed to have been fired by an agent while Pretti lay on the ground wounded, and after ICE had already moved back following the initial shots.
White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller claimed that Pretti was “a domestic terrorist who tried to assassinate law enforcement,” without providing evidence.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem also claimed at a press conference that Pretti had “assaulted” ICE agents and that they acted to defend the public.
“I don’t know of any peaceful protester that shows up with a gun and ammunition rather than a sign,” she said.
Trump appeared to walk back some of those statements when speaking to reporters on Tuesday as he headed to Iowa.
When asked if he thought Pretti was acting as an assassin before his death, he replied, “I don’t think so.”
He also appeared to soften his stance on Truth Social after spending the weeks following Good’s death hitting out at local lawmakers and law enforcement.
Pretti and Good were both U.S. citizens protesting ICE tactics
Good was also labeled a “domestic terrorist” by the administration after she was shot and killed by ICE agent Jonathan Ross on January 7.
Good, a mother of three, was in her vehicle and was attempting to drive away from the scene when she was shot, leading to the car rolling down the street and crashing into parked vehicles.
Trump was later pressed on that characterization during an interview with Tony Dokoupil on CBS, during which he discovered that Good’s parents were supporters of his.
“He’s heartbroken because his daughter is dead, that’s obvious,” Dokoupil said. “He's also heartbroken because your administration so quickly has come out and said she’s a domestic terrorist. What do you wanna say to her father right now?”
Image credits: ODU English Department
Trump replied, “Well, I wanna say to the father that I love all of our people. They can be on the other side.”
He added, “I would bet you that she, under normal circumstances, was a very solid, wonderful person. But, you know, her actions were pretty tough.
“But the bottom line is, look, we have hundreds of thousands of murderers in our countries, killers. ICE is trying to get them out.”
In a series of Truth Social posts this week, Trump signaled that he was now willing to work with local officials to de-escalate the situation amid heightened tensions and rising protests.
“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,” Trump said.
In a separate post, Trump added, “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.”