Federal immigration officials are adapting their techniques amid heightened tensions, President Donald Trump told NBC News’ Tony Llamas in an interview released Feb. 4.
“I learned that maybe we could use a little bit of a softer touch. But you still have to be tough,” Trump said. “We’re dealing with really hard criminals.”
The shooting deaths of Alex Pretti and Renee Good by federal authorities are complicated matters, according to the president.
“He was not an angel, and she was not an angel,” Trump said. “I’m not happy with what happened there, but I’m going to always be with our great people in law enforcement. If we don’t back them, we don’t have a country.”
“This is smarter enforcement, not less,” Homan told reporters at a Minneapolis press conference.
Trump said he directed the adjustments to staffing and deployment.
Response tactics evolved during weeks of weeks of confrontation, as federal and state officials clashed on how best to manage the situation.
Trump described private conversations with Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey as positive.
“[I] had great conversations with them,” Trump said.
Administration officials are contemplating deploying federal law enforcement resources to five cities, yet unnamed, with announcements coming soon.
Interest Rates, Iran
Pivoting to the economy, Trump laid out expectations that Kevin Warsh—the newly nominated chair of the Federal Reserve—will agree on lowering interest rates.
“If he came in and said, ‘I want to raise them,’ … he would not have gotten the job,” Trump said.
“I just think they’re going to be lowered. I mean, they should be lower.”
The president also offered words of warning to Iranian officials, including Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
“I would say he should be very worried, yeah. He should be,” Trump said. “As you know, they’re negotiating with us.”
“They were thinking about starting a new site in a different part of the country,” Trump said. “I said, ‘You do that, we’re going to do very bad things to you.’”
