Gov. Walz calls White House to ‘work together,’ Trump requests local police cooperation with ICE enforcement 

President Donald Trump “outlined a clear and simple path to restoring law and order in Minnesota” during a call with Gov. Tim Walz, D-Minnesota, Monday morning, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said at a press briefing, indicating that the men are addressing their differences on immigration.

“President Trump will never back down from his promise to deport violent criminal illegal aliens and make America safe again, and he welcomes all cooperation in that effort,” Leavitt said Monday. 

Walz called Trump requesting to “work together” regarding Minnesota, Trump said in a post on Truth Social. The president also announced he is sending border czar Tom Homan to Minnesota to handle discussions there. 

“It was a very good call, and we, actually, seemed to be on a similar wavelength,” Trump wrote. “I told Governor Walz that I would have Tom Homan call him, and that what we are looking for are any and all criminals that they have in their possession. The governor, very respectfully, understood that, and I will be speaking to him in the near future.”

Trump told Walz that Minnesota authorities must direct state and local law enforcement to hand over illegal aliens – those currently incarcerated and those with active warrants or known criminal records – to Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers for “immediate deportation,” Leavitt said. 

“If Governor Walz and Mayor Jacob Frey implement these common-sense cooperative measures, that I will add have already been implemented in nearly every single other state across the country, Customs and Border Protection will not be needed to support ICE on the ground in Minnesota,” she said. “ICE and local law enforcement can peacefully work together, as they are effectively doing in so many other states and jurisdictions.” 

The Minnesota-White House correspondence follows the death of Alex Pretti on Saturday, when he was shot during a brawl with ICE officers. Leavitt addressed the “tragedy,” saying “no one in the White House, including President Trump, wants to see people getting hurt or killed in America’s streets,” including protesters, federal agents and innocent American citizens victimized by the crimes of illegal aliens. 

The Department of Homeland Security, the FBI and Customs and Border Protection are conducting investigations into Saturday’s shooting, Leavitt said. 

“But let’s be clear about the circumstances which led to that moment on Saturday: this tragedy occurred as a result of a deliberate and hostile resistance by Democrat leaders in Minnesota for weeks,” she said. “Governor Walz and Mayor Jacob Frey and other elected Democrats were spreading lies about federal law enforcement officers who are risking their lives daily to remove the worst criminal illegal aliens from our streets: murderers, rapists, pedophiles, human traffickers and gang members.” 

Leavitt said those leaders have encouraged “left-wing agitators to stalk, record, confront and obstruct federal officers,” endangering both officers and bystanding Minnesotans. 

“Obstructing federal law enforcement and inciting violence against officers is wrong and illegal,” she said. 

But Walz and Frey have thus far forbidden local and state police from aiding ICE with these arrests, Leavitt said. ICE agents are arresting illegal aliens who have committed violent crimes against the American people, she said, citing several murder victims killed by illegal immigrants who entered the country during the Biden administration. 

“The Democrats opened America’s borders for four years, inviting tens of millions of illegal aliens from all over the world to flood into our country, among them violent criminals who terrorized American communities and have inflicted devastating, permanent pain and harm on law-abiding Americans and their families,” Leavitt said. 

Just this month, an illegal alien from Mexico who entered the United States under President Joe Biden threw a rock at a school bus in New Jersey and fractured the skull of an 8-year-old child, Leavitt said. 

“President Trump promised accountability to these American families by securing the border and deporting every illegal alien who has committed crimes – especially and most importantly, violent crimes,” she said. 

In addition to seeking cooperation from Democratic leaders in Minnesota, Trump urged Congress to pass legislation outlawing sanctuary cities to protect American citizens. 

“American cities should be safe sanctuaries for law-abiding citizens only, not for dangerous illegal alien criminals who broke our nation’s laws and do not belong here,” Leavitt said.