President Trump arrives at Reagan Washington National Airport.
Alex Brandon/AP
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Alex Brandon/AP
President Trump is heading on Tuesday to Iowa, where he’s looking to change the subject to his economic agenda as his administration faces growing backlash over his immigration crackdown in Minnesota.
More Republicans are calling for an investigation after a second U.S. citizen was shot by a federal agent in Minneapolis.
The president is expected to tour a local business and give a speech on energy and the economy.
His chief of staff, Susie Wiles, says the trip is the beginning of what will eventually be weekly travel across the U.S. in support of Republican candidates ahead of the midterm elections. But Trump is unlikely to escape the controversy surrounding his administration’s immigration tactics in Minneapolis.
“The primary news story at the moment isn’t just the ICE-related shooting. It’s the response to the ICE-related shooting,” said Ryan Williams, a veteran Republican strategist who helped lead Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign. “That’s what’s going to be the focus. And the president can attempt to focus on the economy, on what he views are successes of his administration on the economic front. But he’s going to be stuck talking about this issue for a significant period of time.”
The Republican Party has struggled with how to respond to Saturday’s fatal shooting of Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old intensive care nurse at a VA hospital.
The shooting happened just weeks after another Minneapolis protester, Renee Macklin Good, was killed by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer.
A number of Republican lawmakers are pushing for more details about the second shooting, including Rep. Michael McCaul of Texas and Sens. Thom Tillis of North Carolina and Bill Cassidy of Louisiana.
This weekend, Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt of Oklahoma questioned Trump’s broader goals.
“Americans are asking themselves, ‘What is the endgame? What is the solution?'” said Stitt. “And we believe in federalism and state rights. And nobody likes feds coming into their state. And so what’s the goal right now? Is it to deport every single non-U.S. citizen? I don’t think that’s what Americans want. We have to stop politicizing this.”
After his top officials rushed to declare the U.S. citizen killed by federal agents a “domestic terrorist,” Trump is now trying to strike a softer tone
Trump spoke with Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz on Monday. Trump said in a social media post that Walz requested that they “work together.”
“It was a very good call, and we, actually, seemed to be on a similar wavelength,” Trump wrote.
But soon after the call, Trump’s team was attacking Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey again.
Press secretary Karoline Leavitt blamed the local Democratic leaders for the tragedies, saying it was a result of their “deliberate and hostile resistance.”
She called on the city and state leaders to turn over “criminal illegal aliens currently incarcerated in their prisons and jails and assist federal law enforcement in apprehending illegal immigrants wanted for crimes.
“In Minnesota, ICE and local law enforcement can peacefully work together as they are effectively doing in so many other states and jurisdictions,” she said.