‘Job of police is to keep people safe’: Minneapolis Mayor responds to Donald Trump’s ‘playing with fire’ warning

“I want them preventing homicides, not hunting down a working dad who contributes to MPLS & is from Ecuador,” he added.

Fery also pointed out that Rudy Giuliani, a close confidant of Trump, had a similar policy when he was the Mayor of New York City from 1994 to 2001.

The job of our police is to keep people safe, not enforce fed immigration laws. I want them preventing homicides, not hunting down a working dad who contributes to MPLS & is from Ecuador. It’s similar to the policy your guy Rudy had in NYC. Everyone should feel safe calling 911. pic.twitter.com/4RKo3mmOW2

— Mayor Jacob Frey (@MayorFrey) January 28, 2026

Frey was responding to a post by Trump on Truth Social, in which the US President accused the Minneapolis Mayor of ‘playing with fire’.

“Surprisingly, Mayor Jacob Frey just stated that, “Minneapolis does not, and will not, enforce Federal Immigration Laws.” This is after having had a very good conversation with him. Could somebody in his inner sanctum please explain that this statement is a very serious violation of the Law, and that he is PLAYING WITH FIRE,” Trump said.

The US President made the Truth Social post in response to Frey’s comments on X, in which he said he told border czar Tom Homan that the city “does not and will not enforce federal immigration laws” and will focus on keeping residents safe.

“Public safety works best when it’s built on community trust, not tactics that create fear or division,” Frey, who has been at loggerheads with the Trump administration over the anti-immigrant crackdown in Minneapolis, said in a post on X.

“I shared with Mr. Homan the serious negative impacts this operation has had on  and surrounding communities, as well as the strain it has placed on our local police officers.”

Today, Chief O'Hara and I met with Border Czar Homan and had a productive conversation. I reiterated that my main ask is for Operation Metro Surge to end as quickly as possible. Public safety works best when it's built on community trust, not tactics that create fear or division.

— Mayor Jacob Frey (@MayorFrey) January 27, 2026

While Trump did not respond further to Frey, his deputy, US Vice President JD Vance, took it over from him.

“How about federal law enforcement. Should they feel safe calling 911? Right now, they don’t, because you’ve told your police officers not to help them,” Vance wrote on X.

How about federal law enforcement. Should they feel safe calling 911? Right now, they don't, because you've told your police officers not to help them. https://t.co/TAH1eWS66J

— JD Vance (@JDVance) January 28, 2026

The comments come even as the US President and many key figures in his administration are walking back on their initial comments following the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti, the ICU nurse who was killed by federal agents in Minneapolis on January 27.

Many top officials in the Trump administration, reportedly relying on the initial information provided by the DHS and Border Patrol chief Gregory Bovino, had called Pretti, who was carrying a licensed gun, a would-be assassin and domestic terrorist.

However, as more videos of the shooting surfaced, they have been forced to retract.

Homeland Security adviser Stephen Miller said that the initial statement from DHS was based on reports from Customs and Border Protection on the ground.

“Additionally, the White House provided clear guidance to DHS that the extra personnel that had been sent to Minnesota for force protection should be used for conducting fugitive operations to create a physical barrier between the arrest teams and the disruptors,” Miller said Tuesday.

“We are evaluating why the CBP team may not have been following that protocol,” he continued.