January 26, 2026

0:00Hello, this is Michael Moss. Heather Cox Richardson is unable to read the letter today, so I will be reading it in her place. January 26th, 2026. Yesterday, President Donald J. Trump blamed Democratic officials for the killing of VA intensive care nurse Alex Prety in Minnesota Saturday morning. Since then, administration officials and their supporters seem to be coalescing around the idea that the reason there have been violent clashes in Minneapolis is not the violence of federal agents there, but that city officials aren't cooperating with federal officials. As Alison Gill of Mueller, she wrote notes, this language comes straight from the Insurrection Act, and indeed, Maga Leader and former Trump advisor Steve Bannon told the

1:01Wall Street Journal yesterday that he thinks Trump should invoke that act. Bannon said Prety knew exactly what he was doing and he knew the consequences. The violent domestic terrorist mob in the streets of Minneapolis needs to stand down now. Unright when social media, Bannon echoed the language of a dystopian vision of the world that claims immigrants are invading United States and those protecting them in Minneapolis are dangerous. He told his supporters, this is not just Minneapolis, this is an organized, well-thought-through effort to invade the country. Mag adherents are embracing the daft idea that the Minnesota people who have come together to protect their neighbors are an organized, paid insurgency. But the tide seems to be running against them. This morning, Trump's social media account posted that the president is sending Tom Homan to Minnesota.

2:05Homan is a White House advisor, under scrutiny for allegations that he accepted $50,000 in cash, stuffed into a Kava bag, after promising to steer government contracts toward those offering him the money. According to Aaron Franklin Melnick of the American Immigration Council, Homan has been clashing with the extremist faction led by Secretary of Homeland Security Christie Nome, her advisor Cory Lewandowski, and White House Deputy Chief of Staff Steven Miller because he thinks they're made for TV violence as doing long-term damage to immigration and customs enforcement or ICE and border patrol. Aaron Rupar of Public Notice Committed, if Tom Kava Bag, Homan, is your emergency crisis comms guy, you're a f***ing. Trump's account also posted his version of a phone call with Minnesota Governor Tim Walls

3:06that would let Trump de-escalate the situation there. Despite the fact that, as journalist Laura Bassett notes, the administration has been leaning its followers to believe Walls is going to jail. Trump's account posted, Governor Tim Walls called me with a request to work together with respect to Minnesota. It was a very good call and we actually seem to be on a similar wavelength. I told Governor Walls 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. He was happy that Tom Homan was going to Minnesota and so am I. We have had such tremendous success in Washington DC, Memphis, Tennessee and New Orleans, Louisiana and virtually every other place that we have touched and even in Minnesota, crime is way down but both Governor Walls and I want to make it better. President

4:13Donald J. Trump. This morning, Republican Chris Model withdrew from the Minnesota Governor's race saying, I cannot support the National Republican stated retribution on the citizens of our state nor can I count myself a member of a party that would do so. Operation Metro Surge has expanded far beyond its stated focus on true public safety threats. United States citizens, particularly those of color, live in fear. United States citizens are carrying papers to prove their citizenship. That's wrong, Model said. He added, I am above all else a pragmatist. The reality is that the National Republicans have made it nearly impossible for a Republican to win a statewide election in Minnesota. Neil Mata and Valerie Bauerline of the Wall Street Journal noted that Prea Sam Sundar

5:19a Republican strategy consultant agrees noting that her own mother who immigrated legally has begun to carry her passport with her. Some Republicans are backing away from the administration over its tactics and violence in Minnesota. Former Vice President Mike Pence today called images from there deeply troubling and called for a full investigation into Prea's killing. By Sunday, Republican Senators Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, and Tom Tillis of North Carolina had all called for investigations. Today, those calls reached deeper into the party with Republican Senators John Curtis of Utah, Jerry Moran of Kansas, and Todd Young of Indiana also called for investigation and accountability. This afternoon, Jordan Carney and Adam Ren of Politico reported that Senator Rand Paul, a Republican of Kentucky, chair of the Homeland

6:24Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, had called a hearing for February 12th. He has asked Customs and Border Protection, or CBP Commissioner Rodney Scott, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Director Joseph Edlow, and ICE Acting Director Todd Lyons to testify. One House Republican told Meredith Lee Hill of Politico, many of us wonder if the administration has any clue as to how much this will hurt us legislatively and electorally this year. As Kate Riga of Talking Points memo noted today, even Mag of Firebrand Texas Governor Greg Abbott said on a Dallas talk show that the White House needs to recalibrate and maybe work from a different direction to ensure that they get back to what they wanted to do to begin with, and that is to remove people from the country. And Immigration Officers themselves are speaking up. This afternoon, Nicholas Nahamas,

7:30Hamad Aliazeez, Zolan Kano Youngs, and Alexander Burzon of the New York Times reported that Immigration Officers deployed to urban areas are angry at the aggressiveness, the Trump administrations employing, and at the administration sending them into dangerous situations. They say the arrest quotas, long hours, and public anger at them are taking a significant toll on morale. Most of those journalists interviewed said they were unhappy that administration officials had jumped to blame pretty for his own killing. One agent said he had always given the benefit of the doubt to the government in these situations, but no longer believed any of the statements they put out anymore. Throughout the day, there were signs that the administration was planned to throw Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Nome and Border Patrol Commander Greg Bavino under the bus. An unsigned editorial in the Free Press and outlet closely aligned with

8:35the administration. Lamb based in Nome for pushing lies that the American people can see with their own eyes are untrue. Perhaps Republican operatives consider the politics of division as a viable strategy for their party to survive the midterm elections, the editorial said, but it noted that the administration's deportation tactics as well as the conduct of federal agents in Minneapolis are driving voters away from the president and his party. Then this afternoon, CNN's Priscilla Alvarez reported that Bavino and some of his agents are leaving Minneapolis and returning to the sectors from which they came. Before hitting the road, though, on Friday, federal agents took into custody Juan Espinoza Martinez, who would jury acquitted this week after the Department of Justice accused him of participating in a plot to hire someone to kill Bavino. While CBP

9:37appears to be leaving, the operation itself will continue. Tonight, Alvarez and her colleague Michael Williams reported that DHS had suspended Bavino's access to his official social media accounts. In response to Attorney General Pam Bondi's suggestion in a letter on Saturday, shortly after Freddie's killing, that Governor Tim Walls could restore the rule of law in Minnesota by handing over the state's voter rolls. Wall said, I think everybody understands what the last request was, totally unrelated to anything on the voter files. This is again, Donald Trump telling everybody that the election was rigged. I would just give a pro tip to the Attorney General. There's two million documents in the Epstein files were still waiting on. Go ahead and work on those. This afternoon, Trump turned back to tariffs,

10:40saying he is increasing tariff rates on South Korean autos, lumber, pharma, and all other reciprocal tariffs from 15% to 25%. This evening, Trump's social media account posted that he just had a very good telephone conversation with Mayor Jacob Fry of Minneapolis. Lots of progress is being made. Fry responded with a statement. I spoke with President Trump this afternoon and appreciated the conversation. I expressed how much Minneapolis has benefited from our immigrant communities and was clear that my main ask is that Operation Metro Surge needs to end. The President agreed that the present situation cannot continue. Some federal agents will begin leaving the area tomorrow and I will continue pushing for the rest involved in this operation to go.

11:41Minneapolis will continue to cooperate with state and federal law enforcement on real criminal investigations, but we will not participate in unconstitutional arrests of our neighbors or enforce federal immigration law. Violent criminals should be held accountable based on the crimes they commit, not based on where they are from. I will continue working with all levels of government to keep our communities safe, keep crime down, and put Minneapolis residents first. I plan to meet with borders our Tom Homan tomorrow to further discuss next steps. Letters from an American was written by Heather Cox Richardson. It was produced at Soundscape Productions, Death in Massachusetts, recorded with music composed by Michael Moss.