The WSJ and the New York Post urge Trump to end his immigration crackdown in Minnesota
Two newspapers owned by Rupert Murdoch, The Wall Street Journal and the New York Post, on Sunday urged Donald Trump to end his brutal immigration operation in Minnesota following the murder of Alex Pretti this weekend, in a clear sign that the Australian media mogul is urging the president to back off his aggressive strategy.
The Journal editorial, titled “It’s time for ICE to pause in Minneapolis,” warned Trump that the fatal shooting of Pretti, the second killing of a protester in the city by federal agents, “is the worst incident to date in what is becoming a moral and political debacle” for his presidency.
The conservative newspaper’s editorial board added that Trump “would be wise to suspend ICE enforcement in the Twin Cities to ease tensions and consider a less provocative strategy.”
The board condemned efforts by Trump administration officials to distort the facts about Saturday’s tragedy, directly criticizing Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Trump’s deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller, who baselessly called Pretti a “domestic terrorist” and claimed that the 37-year-old ICU nurse set out to kill law enforcement.
“Ms. Noem and Mr. Miller are not credible spokespersons. Their strategy on social media and cable television is to co-opt liberals, rather than persuade Americans,” it said.
The Journal noted that “Miller’s mass deportation methods are turning immigration, an issue Trump owned in 2024, into a political liability for Republicans” ahead of the 2026 midterm elections, and also cited the detention of a 5-year-old boy.
“Americans don’t want law enforcement shooting people in the street or arresting five-year-olds. The president who said you have to have a heart to enforce the law should have it,” it said.
Matt McClain/The Washington Post via Getty Images
The Post editorial board echoed the Journal in criticizing the administration’s messaging strategy, noting that eyewitness video of the shooting directly undermines claims by Trump officials that Pretti “brandished” a firearm at federal agents.
“The carefree and misleading rhetoric coming out of the administration must stop – any reasonable person who saw the videos clearly knows that he was not ‘brandishing his gun,'” he said.
“Noem should also take a break from her combative and self-promotional television hits,” he added.
The Post also warned Trump against invoking the Insurrection Act, a move the president had previously threatened to take, warning that the move “would be counterproductive.”
“Team Trump needs to calm things down and let the American public see calm leadership,” it said.
The Post added that “as noble as the mission of ridding the country of ‘the worst of the worst’ may be, broad support for it is rapidly declining.”
“Mr. President, the American people did not vote for these scenes and we cannot continue ordering them not to believe their lying eyes,” he warned.
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Trump has so far refrained from criticizing the actions of federal agents, instead blaming Democrats and the victim himself for Saturday’s violence.
However, in an interview with the Journal published Sunday afternoon, Trump left open the possibility that immigration agents would eventually leave the city.
“At some point we will leave. We have, they have done a phenomenal job,” he said.