WASHINGTON—President Trump rose to power in real estate, reality television and politics following a simple creed in moments of crisis: Cede no ground, never admit mistakes and attack.
In the hours after a federal immigration agent shot and killed a 37-year-old intensive-care nurse in Minneapolis, the president’s top advisers followed their boss’s playbook—and it backfired.
Now, Trump and his aides are rushing to limit the political damage, as they point fingers and shift their strategy in Minnesota.
The administration’s harsh language—top officials called Alex Pretti a domestic terrorist who was trying to massacre law enforcement agents—has been replaced with calls to ease tensions in Minneapolis after weeks of high-profile standoffs between protesters and federal officials.
Trump is planning to instead focus on fraud in the state and ratchet up criticism of state and local leaders, according to administration officials. The president criticized his own administration’s on-the-ground commander during the shootings, calling Gregory Bovino “a pretty out-there kind of a guy.”
Trump’s softer tone has left senior immigration officials in the White House and the Department of Homeland Security trying to explain why they offered inaccurate descriptions of the facts on the ground after Pretti was killed. A preliminary government report sent to Congress this week along with bystander videos from the scene contradicted their version of events.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s advisers have privately expressed frustration that she has taken the brunt of the blame for the administration’s response to the shooting, according to people familiar with the matter. Shortly after the shooting on Saturday, Noem asserted that Pretti approached federal agents with a handgun and attacked them. She also accused Pretti of domestic terrorism, alleging that he wanted to inflict “maximum damage” and kill law enforcement.
Noem has received bipartisan criticism, with some Republicans calling on her to step aside and Democrats demanding her impeachment. Several other senior administration officials, including White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller, made similar allegations about Pretti.
Miller, who described Pretti as a “would-be assassin,” appeared to move to deflect criticism of his remarks, blaming U.S. Customs and Border Protection. “The initial statement from DHS was based on reports from CBP on the ground,” Miller said in a statement.
Miller also suggested that CBP might not have followed White House guidance to have extra agents on hand to deal with protesters, a directive intended to ensure the arrest teams could focus on their apprehension mission. “We are evaluating why the CBP team may not have been following that protocol,” Miller said.
DHS, which oversees CBP, said initial reports came from “a very chaotic scene on the ground.” The agency is conducting an investigation, a spokeswoman said. Two of the immigration agents involved with the Pretti shooting have been placed on administrative leave, according to a CBP spokeswoman.
Noem’s allies have said privately that the administration’s broader approach to deportations was the product of a desire from the president and the White House for splashy and aggressive immigration-enforcement operations, according to a person familiar with their thinking.
A White House official said the White House’s role is to coordinate interagency cooperation on Trump’s policy priorities and that “operational control has always remained with the individual agencies.”
Trump dispatched border czar Tom Homan to Minnesota this week, elevating an adviser who has argued for a more methodical approach to deportations, while sidelining Bovino. Homan has met with Gov. Tim Walz, a Democrat, and other local officials, talks both sides have called productive.
Trump hasn’t said publicly how many immigration officials will be moved out of Minnesota, and he has at times continued to express frustration with state and local officials.
On Wednesday morning, the president criticized Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, writing on social media that the mayor is “PLAYING WITH FIRE” by insisting that he won’t cooperate with federal deportation efforts.
Frey responded to Trump’s post by saying the role of local police doesn’t include immigration enforcement. “I want them preventing homicides,” he said via X.
Trump has also expressed annoyance that the controversy around the volatile situation in Minnesota is overshadowing what he sees as his successes, according to administration officials. Trump was asked repeatedly about the fallout from the shooting on Tuesday in the run-up to a speech aimed at touting his economic agenda.
“We take out 25 murderers, we take out drug dealers, we take out a whole group of people by the thousands, and if we get one person a little bit wrong—headlines,” Trump said Tuesday during a Fox News interview, pointing to lower crime rates.
Since the start of Trump’s second term, the president has often brushed off criticism when controversies erupt in Washington. The president publicly stood behind his team when Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth shared sensitive information on the messaging app Signal and lawmakers of both parties questioned the administration’s campaign against alleged drug-smuggling boats coming from Latin America.
The president has sometimes backed down from policy decisions, especially when they rattle markets. Last week, he ruled out using force to take control of Greenland and called off promised tariffs on European nations who opposed his campaign to acquire the island. Last year, he rolled back some of his far-reaching tariffs.
Trump’s immigration officials deployed the president’s no-apologies playbook earlier this month after a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer shot Renee Good. Noem said Good was engaged in “domestic terrorism.” Trump initially said she “violently, willfully, and viciously ran over the ICE officer.” He also called her death a tragedy.
At least half a dozen prosecutors have resigned from the U.S. attorney’s office in Minnesota over the Trump administration’s handling of the federal investigation into Good’s killing. Among the concerns of the departing prosecutors was pressure to investigate the wife of the deceased woman, The Wall Street Journal previously reported.
Some Trump supporters are warning against a pullback in Minneapolis and want more federal resources there to carry out mass deportations. “Bend the knee now, and you’ll bend the knee forever,” Steve Bannon said Wednesday on his “War Room” podcast. “MAGA ain’t backing down. We’re not in the back down business.”
Write to Annie Linskey at annie.linskey@wsj.com and Alex Leary at alex.leary@wsj.com