President Trump spoke with Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz on Monday and hinted that the men can find a path forward to calm tensions in the state following the shooting deaths of two protesters by federal agents.
“It was a very good call, and we, actually, seemed to be on a similar wavelength,” Mr. Trump wrote on Truth Social. He said Mr. Walz requested that the two “work together” to address the chaos in the state.
Mr. Walz’s office confirmed the conversation and said Mr. Trump “agreed to look into reducing the number of federal agents in Minnesota and working with the state in a more coordinated fashion on immigration enforcement regarding violent criminals.”
Mr. Trump’s comments marked a noticeable shift in the way the president has talked about Mr. Walz, whom he has repeatedly disparaged for his handling of a fraud scandal in Minnesota and blamed for the unrest that has led to federal officers killing two people this month.
But moments after Mr. Trump’s post, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt scathingly criticized Mr. Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, saying their rhetoric has “shamefully” blocked Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents from carrying out law enforcement operations.
“They have also used their platforms to encourage left-wing agitators to stalk and record, confront and obstruct federal officers who were just trying to lawfully perform their duties,” Ms. Leavitt said.
As recently as Sunday, after a federal agent’s fatal shooting of Alex Pretti, Mr. Trump accused Mr. Walz and Mr. Frey of “inciting insurrection with their pompous, dangerous and arrogant rhetoric,” and slammed them as “sanctimonious political fools.”
Mr. Trump also said that he will have border czar Tom Homan reach out to Mr. Walz. Earlier Monday, the president dispatched Mr. Homan to Minnesota to deal as tensions escalated following Mr. Pretti’s death.
“The Governor, very respectfully, understood that, and I will be speaking to him in the near future. He was happy that Tom Homan was going to Minnesota, and so am I,” Mr. Trump wrote at the time.
In its statement, Mr. Walz’s office said the president agreed to speak to the Department of Homeland Security to ensure that “state investigators are able to conduct independent investigations” into the shootings of Mr. Pretti and Nicole Good.
Ms. Good was killed by a federal agent earlier this month after driving her car at an ICE agent. She was blocking the roadway with her SUV during protests of immigration enforcement in the city.
Both deaths have touched off a wave of anti-ICE protests.
