I would love to have been a fly on the wall…
Trump Holds 2-Hour Meeting With Noem Amid Backlash to Minneapolis Shooting
The meeting is a sign that the president is concerned about the fallout from the killing of Alex Pretti, who was shot by immigration agents.
By Tyler Pager and Hamed Aleaziz
Reporting from Washington
Published Jan. 26, 2026 Updated Jan. 27, 2026, 9:41 a.m. ET
President Trump met Monday evening in the Oval Office with Kristi Noem, the homeland security secretary, and Corey Lewandowski, her top aide, for nearly two hours, as his administration tries to shift its strategy after federal agents killed a second Minneapolis resident over the weekend, according to two people briefed on the meeting.
The meeting came after Ms. Noem requested to see the president, the people said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss a private meeting.
Mr. Trump did not suggest during the meeting that either Ms. Noem’s or Mr. Lewandowski’s jobs were at risk, the people said. But it was the latest sign the president is concerned about the bipartisan criticism of the administration’s response to the killing of Alex Pretti, who was shot at roughly 10 times by immigration agents on Saturday after he was apparently filming them with his phone camera.
Ms. Noem has been the face of the administration’s immigration crackdown, and she has been among the most vocal in spreading false accusations against Mr. Pretti, including labeling him a “domestic terrorist.”
The Oval Office meeting also included several of Mr. Trump’s top aides, including Susie Wiles, his chief of staff, Karoline Leavitt, his press secretary, and Steven Cheung, his communications director. Stephen Miller, a top aide to Mr. Trump who oversees the administration’s immigration strategy, was not part of the meeting.
The meeting came the same day Mr. Trump announced he was sending Tom Homan, his border czar, to oversee the operation in Minneapolis. The move was seen as a way to elevate an official who is steeped in Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s longstanding practice of prioritizing targeted arrests, rather than the kinds of sweeping raids that the Trump administration has carried out in cities across the country.
At the same time, the administration was planning to move Gregory Bovino, a Border Patrol official whose harsh tactics have drawn sharp criticism, out of the city, according to two officials with knowledge of the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity.
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Tyler Pager is a White House correspondent for The Times, covering President Trump and his administration.
Hamed Aleaziz covers the Department of Homeland Security and immigration policy for The Times.
Excerpt from CNN:
Administration officials were left deeply frustrated this weekend over how Bovino and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem handled the fallout over the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti in Minneapolis, sources said. According to one official, Trump spent several hours Sunday and Monday watching news coverage and was unhappy by how his administration was coming across. CNN previously reported that Noem was in touch with the White House throughout the day Saturday.
Others say that Bovino, who became the face of Trump’s immigration enforcement operation in Minnesota, made matters worse by claiming Pretti intended to “massacre” federal agents. He sat for an interview with CNN and held a news conference Sunday, but neither appearance tamped down criticism of the administration’s response and contradictions, officials told CNN.
Senior officials began discussing taking Bovino out of Minnesota on Sunday afternoon, according to one senior official.
Aides were also irked after Noem labeled Pretti a “domestic terrorist” and accused him of brandishing his legally owned firearm, a claim that wasn’t backed up by video evidence.
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