The version of the governor of Minnesota after the talk with Trump. What a step backwards the American president is willing to take, according to Walz

Minnesota Democratic Gov. Tim Walz says he and US President Donald Trump had a “productive” phone conversation on Monday, in which the White House leader agreed to consider reducing federal immigration enforcement in Minnesota, amid outrage over the fatal shooting of a Minneapolis resident by federal ICE agents, Reuters and CBS News reported.

A spokesman for Walz's press office said the governor “has argued that we need impartial investigations into the Minneapolis shootings involving federal agents and that we need to reduce the number of federal agents in Minnesota.”

According to the same source, Walz added that Trump “has agreed to consider reducing the number of federal agents in Minnesota.”

I had a productive call with President Trump earlier today. I told him we need impartial investigations of the Minneapolis shootings involving federal agents, and that we need to reduce the number of federal agents in Minnesota.

— Governor Tim Walz (@GovTimWalz) January 26, 2026

Walz's office said the US president agreed to speak with Department of Homeland Security officials “about ensuring that the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension can conduct an independent investigation as it normally would.”

In a dramatic shift, President Donald Trump said Monday that he is “on the same page” as Governor Walz on the situation in Minnesota.

“It was a very good conversation and we actually seemed to be on the same page,” Trump wrote in a post on his Truth Social social network. “Crime is down, but both Governor Walz and I want to make it better!” the American leader added. “I told Governor Walz that I would ask Tom Homan to call him and that what we are looking for are all the criminals that they have in their custody. The Governor understood this very respectfully and I will be speaking with him in the near future,” Trump wrote.

Walz and other Democratic leaders have vehemently opposed the wave of federal crackdowns on immigrants, which they characterized as an illegal invasion that endangers public safety. Trump, for his part, accused Walz last month of incompetence for failing to stop a welfare fraud scandal in the state of Minnesota.

The Trump administration has repeatedly said Minnesota authorities have been uncooperative in handing over immigrants in custody.

Walz's office also said the governor took the opportunity to remind Trump that “the Minnesota Department of Corrections already complies with federal arrest warrants by notifying Immigration and Customs Enforcement when a person in its custody is not a U.S. citizen. There is no documented case in which the department has released someone from state prison without ensuring that the transfer of custody will go smoothly.”

Earlier this month, the Minnesota Department of Corrections disputed a claim by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement that the state was not complying with ICE arrest warrants, calling the claims “categorically false.”

Monday's phone call between Trump and Walz came just a day after Walz vehemently denounced the actions of federal immigration agents in the Minneapolis-St. Paul and throughout the Minnesota region during Operation “Metro Surge” and directly invoked the US President.

“What's the plan, Donald Trump? What's the plan?” Walz said at a press conference on Sunday. “What do we have to do to get these federal agents out of our state? If fear, violence and chaos is what you wanted from us, then you have clearly underestimated the people of this state and this nation,” the governor said

Trump announced on Monday that he would send Tom Homan (dubbed the “Border King”), the White House's chief of border affairs, to work with local authorities following the incident on Saturday, when immigration agents opened fire in Minneapolis on a paramedic, Alex Pretti, who they fatally shot. While other senior Trump administration officials have characterized Pretti as a “domestic terrorist,” Homan has not yet spoken publicly about the incident.

In a statement, Trump said Homan was “not involved” in the incidents in Minnesota, “but he knows and appreciates many of the people there.”

White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said Trump is asking Minnesota to hand over people in jails and prisons who are in the country illegally. Walz says the state prison system already does this, but some local law enforcement agencies do not.

The White House is also pressing Minnesota officials to involve local police in immigration enforcement, which could be difficult because some cities, such as Minneapolis, prohibit police from enforcing civil federal immigration laws.

State officials say the number of immigration agents in the field already outnumbers police officers in the area. They say the crackdown endangers public safety and drains their resources.

Trump's announcement came as state officials pressed a US judge to temporarily halt the influx of 3,000 immigration agents, which they characterized as a tactic to pressure the state to change its immigration policies.

“They have resorted to violence on the streets of Minnesota to get what they want,” Brian Carter, attorney for the state's attorney general, told U.S. Magistrate Judge Katherine Menendez.

Trump administration lawyers have argued that the agents are doing nothing more than enforcing immigration laws.

The influx of ICE agents sparked massive street protests in sub-zero temperatures and vehement condemnations from the state's Democratic leaders. Sixty of the state's largest companies, including Target, 3M, UnitedHealth and US Bancorp, called on Sunday for an immediate de-escalation of tensions between the state and the Trump administration.

One of the leading Republican candidates for governor, Chris Madel, withdrew his candidacy on Monday, saying the crackdown had gone too far and made the election unwinnable for a Republican.

“I cannot support the vengeance that Republicans statewide are taking on the citizens of our state, nor can I consider myself a member of a party that would do so,” he said in a video message.

Department of Homeland Security officials described the incident as an attack by Pretti, saying agents fired in self-defense after he approached them with a gun.

But video from the scene, verified by Reuters, contradicts this version. The footage shows Pretti holding a phone — not a gun — as agents tackled him to the ground. Officers are also seen removing a firearm from his waistband after he was restrained, moments before fatally shooting him. Pretti was a licensed gun owner.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem will remain in office “with the full confidence of the president,” White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said.

Trump told the Wall Street Journal on Sunday that his administration was “looking into everything” related to the incident and said immigration officials would eventually step down.

A recent Reuters poll indicates that a significant portion of Trump's Republican supporters — 39 percent — are skeptical of the tough approach, saying ICE agents should avoid using force even if it means fewer immigration arrests.

In Washington, Senate Democrats announced they would oppose a bill to fund the Department of Homeland Security, raising the possibility of a partial government “shutdown” starting Sunday.

Republicans last year approved a massive increase in the budget for immigration enforcement, but some of them criticized the administration in Washington.

“I would encourage the administration to be more measured, to recognize the tragedy and to say that we don't want anyone to lose their lives,” said Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas.

Alex Pretti's slaying on Saturday comes after an ICE agent fatally shot another American citizen, Renee Nicole Good, also in Minneapolis, after he approached her parked car on Jan. 7.

Alex Pretti and Renee Good were 37 years old.