Trump and his team have a well-worn crisis playbook. It backfired in Minnesota.
Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. WASHINGTON—President Trump rose to power in real estate, reality television and politics following a simple creed in moments of crisis: Cede no ground, never admit mistakes and attack.
In the hours after a federal immigration agent shot and killed a 37-year-old intensive-care nurse in Minneapolis, the president’s top advisers followed their boss’s playbook—and it backfired. Now, Trump and his aides are rushing to limit the political damage, as they point fingers and shift their strategy in Minnesota.
The administration’s harsh language—top officials called Alex Pretti a domestic terrorist who was trying to massacre law enforcement agents—has been replaced with calls to ease tensions in Minneapolis after weeks of high-profile standoffs between protesters and federal officials. Trump is planning to instead focus on fraud in the state and ratchet up criticism of state and local leaders, according to administration officials.
The president criticized his own administration’s on-the-ground commander during the shootings, calling Gregory Bovino “a pretty out-there kind of a guy." Trump’s softer tone has left senior immigration officials in the White House and the Department of Homeland Security trying to explain why they offered inaccurate descriptions of the facts on the ground after Pretti was killed. A preliminary government report sent to Congress this week along with bystander videos from the scene contradicted their version of events.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s advisers have privately expressed frustration that she has taken the brunt of the blame for the administration’s response to the shooting, according to people familiar with the matter. Shortly after the shooting
. Read on livemint.com