Trump Denies Federal Agents Are Drawing Down in Minnesota: ‘Not at All’

President Donald Trump pumped the brakes on talk of reducing the number of federal immigration agents in Minnesota amid a tumultuous and deadly month.

On Thursday, Border Czar Tom Homan held a press conference in Minneapolis, where he acknowledged that agents could improve how they have conducted themselves in the wake of two deadly shootings in the city. He also announced a “drawdown plan” that would reduce the number of agents in the area, provided certain benchmarks are met. Homan has criticized state and local officials for their opposition to the federal presence.

Hours later, Trump attended a screening of Melania at the Kennedy Center, where he took questions before the showing:

REPORTER: Will you be pulling back immigration enforcement agents out of Minnesota?

TRUMP: We keep our country safe. We’ll do whatever we can to keep our country safe.

REPORTER: So, you’re not pulling back?

TRUMP: No, no. Not all.

On Thursday’s AC360 on CNN, Anderson Cooper aired Trump’s response, as well as Homan’s remarks from earlier in the day.

“So, [Homan] did not promise a drawdown, only to work toward a plan for one,” the host noted. “All the same, his boss, the president, just a few words on the red carpet, seems to have put the kibosh on any drawdown. And it came after he spent the day silent on it all, leaving the spotlight entirely to Tom Homan.”

The Trump administration dispatched Homan to Minnesota after it ousted former Border Patrol Commander-at-Large Greg Bovino, after Saturday’s killing of Alex Pretti by Border Patrol agents. Bovino, like Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, falsely claimed the agents acted, despite video showing agents removing Pretti’s legally-permitted firearm from his waistband before shooting him 10 times.

Watch above via CNN.

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