NationalWatch

Funding for the Department of Homeland Security was already a question for some Democrats before the killing of Alex Pretti.

But Saturday’s killing by ICE agents gave Democrats who were on the fence about supporting the upcoming government funding plan a reason to solidify their opposition. And the killing only hardened those who were opposed to funding DHS before.

From a political standpoint, Democrats are compelled to fight this. Otherwise, their base will balk. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., endured brickbats from the liberal base last March when he and a group of other Democratic senators helped Republicans clear a filibuster to avoid a shutdown.

Progressives raged at Schumer. And the Senate’s top Democrat suddenly found himself crossways with House Democratic leaders who expected him to mount more of a fight over government funding.

CONGRESS UNVEILS $1.2T SPENDING BILL AS PROGRESSIVE REVOLT BREWS OVER ICE FUNDING

The liberal base certainly got that this fall as Democrats withheld their votes to fund the government and fought over expiring Obamacare subsidies. The government shuttered for 43 days. But Democrats never earned a restoration of Obamacare subsidies. The Senate took a vote related to restoring the subsidies. Nothing happened. The House actually passed a bill re-upping the subsidies for three years. But the issue remains at an impasse.

Despite the fall brawl, Democratic congressional leaders faced a narrow path to walk for this funding round. They still felt pressure from the left to oppose money for DHS, long before the killing of Renee Good and Pretti. But Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., did not go to the mat to oppose funding this time. They wanted to finesse this, believing that a shutdown was bad politics for them after the fall experience. After all, Democrats never scored precisely what they wanted. By the same token, Schumer and Jeffries didn’t wade deeply into the funding fight, perhaps afraid of breaking a fragile truce on spending bills.

That all changed Saturday. Democrat after Democrat published statements that they wouldn’t vote to fund DHS. Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, caucuses with the Democrats. He was one senator instrumental to helping re-open the government last fall. King said he couldn’t support funding this time around.

MORE THAN HALF OF HOUSE DEMOCRATS BACK IMPEACHMENT PUSH AGAINST DHS CHIEF KRISTI NOEM

So unless something changes by 11:59:59 p.m. ET on Friday, Jan. 30, 78% of the federal government will lack money to operate. The six-bill, $1.2 trillion spending package doesn’t only fund the Department of Homeland Security, but it also provides money for the Pentagon, Health and Human Services, Labor & Housing programs, Transportation and Education.

The DHS bill was radioactive in the House. So the House broke that bill off from the rest of the package. The House approved the DHS funding measure 220-207 with seven Democratic yeas. The House approved the remaining bills 341-88.

The House then married the six bills together in one package, sent it to the Senate and left town.

There was some grumbling from senators that this was a “take it or leave it” package.

And after the shooting, all bets were off. On Saturday, Schumer declared that “Senate Democrats will not provide the votes to proceed to the appropriations bill if the DHS funding bill is included.”  

Democrats implored Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., to break off the DHS funding bill from the rest of the spending package and handle that separately. Otherwise, they would oppose the entire plan.

On Monday, Schumer signaled that “Senate Democrats have made clear we are ready to quickly advance the five appropriations bills separately from the DHS funding bill before the January 30th deadline.” He also said that “Republicans will again be responsible for another government shutdown.”

$174B SPENDING PACKAGE TO AVERT SHUTDOWN CLEARS KEY HURDLE IN SENATE

Well, this is an amalgamated appropriations bill sent over from the House. Not a Kit-Kat bar. You just can’t break off one piece of it.

In short, what Schumer is proposing would spark a government shutdown. It’s not clear that there are the votes to do what Schumer is suggesting. And doubtful that the Senate would have the time. That’s to say nothing of getting the House on the same page before the deadline. Moreover, the House would just have to magically accept the new Senate position. That’s probably not going to happen considering what the House went through just to pass that minibus spending bill.

And we have not even mentioned that most of the money that Democrats are crowing about for DHS is already out the door. In the One Big Beautiful Bill, Republicans approved $75 billion for border security and ICE through 2029. In that measure, Republicans converted “discretionary spending” (which Congress controls) into a “mandatory appropriation” through 2029. Yes, this tactic agitates Members of the Appropriations Committee. But this has been done before, notably by Democrats when approving Obamacare.

So going after DHS right now would have little impact on the funding for ICE. However, Democrats could demand certain “guardrails” and changes in policy for ICE.

From a parliamentary standpoint, ripping the six-bill package apart is a mess. First of all, the Senate must agree on a “motion to strike” the DHS section from the six-bill combo package. The Senate would have to vote on this. Or, in the interest of time, do this via unanimous consent. But because the “motion to strike” by itself is debatable, the issue could set up a possible filibuster. Sixty votes are needed to cut off debate on just that question alone – stripping the DHS provision from the rest of the overall bill.

It’s important that a motion to strike the DHS money from the rest of the bill does not mean that the remaining five bills are ready to go. The Senate would have to agree that this is the new bill. Senators would then have to overcome a filibuster once and then vote to pass the bill. Those floor mechanics get you well past the early Saturday morning deadline.

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Then the Senate must tangle with passing the standalone DHS funding bill by itself. That certainly isn’t going to be done by Saturday morning.

Moreover, none of these scenarios even addresses the House. If the Senate did approve the revamped five-bill spending package and the solitary DHS bill, the measures must return to the House. The House would have to vote on a “motion to concur” on the five-bill minibus. And then separately, on the solo DHS measure. That’s probably untenable in the House. Anything under this plan wouldn’t meet the early Saturday morning deadline. In addition, the House could glue the bills together another way and send it back to the Senate. Or, the House could even move to go to a conference committee and try to blend the bills into one.

There is no easy way out of this at such a late date. And that’s why you likely have a partial government shutdown at 12:00:01 a.m. ET on Saturday.

Even though ICE is funded thanks to the One Big Beautiful Bill, there’s a big penalty and disruption and other services. TSA agents are unpaid again. That’s a major problem considering what they went through this fall – and coming on the heels of the monster winter storm which swept across the country in the past few days. Air traffic controllers would again face the lack of a paycheck as part of the transportation spending bill.

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Then, there are the politics. Who gets blamed? Republicans are concerned about losing support from voters based on the tactics of ICE. That’s why some Republicans are searching for some changes – but not ready to nuke the spending bill. Meantime, if the government shuts down thanks to Democrats withholding their votes, that may resonate with progressives. But it may hurt the party if Democrats are viewed as the party responsible for another shutdown.

This is a tough situation all around. And there’s not an obvious off-ramp.

This story discusses suicide. If you or someone you know is having thoughts of suicide, please contact the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988 or 1-800-273-TALK (8255).

EXCLUSIVE: The Department of Homeland Security on Monday released an expletive-laden, sexually-explicit voicemail that a Minnesota-based ICE agent received from an apparent agitator amid unrest in Minneapolis.

Fox News Digital is not posting the clip due to its content, but the caller told the agent he is a fascist and that he should commit suicide.

“I hope your wife dies. I hope your mom and dad die. I hope everything wrong that could go [on] in your life happens. I hope you have the most miserable life,” the caller said.

VANCE CALLS MINNEAPOLIS UNREST ‘ENGINEERED CHAOS’ AFTER DEADLY SHOOTING

“You are a traitor to the American people, to the values that made our country.”

The caller then wishes that the agent is hit by a transit vehicle, and faces a divorce after his apparent wife cheats on him due to medical complications.

The caller then wishes that the agent be hit by a transit vehicle and face a divorce after his apparent wife cheats on him due to medical complications.

DHS SAYS ICE AGENTS RAMMED BY VEHICLES AMID MINNEAPOLIS ENFORCEMENT SURGE: ‘AGGRESSIVELY ASSAULTED’

In response, DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin blamed local “sanctuary politicians” for inciting such “threatening rhetoric and unprecedented violence” through their “repeated vilification” of federal law enforcement.

She cited repeated comparisons between ICE and the Geheime Staatspolizei — the German Nazi “Gestapo” secret state police — and 1800s-era slave patrols.

“The men and women of ICE are fathers and mothers, sons and daughters. They get up every morning to try and make our communities safer,” McLaughlin said.

JD VANCE SHARES ‘CRAZY’ STORY OF ICE AND CBP OFFICERS BEING MOBBED IN MINNEAPOLIS

“Like everyone else, we just want to go home to our families at night. The violence and dehumanization of these men and women who are simply enforcing the law must stop.”

McLaughlin said ICE has faced an 8,000% increase in death threats and 1,300% increase in assaults during the second Trump administration despite the fact that they are conducting operations to remove “rapists, terrorists and gang members from American neighborhoods.”

She added that Secretary Kristi Noem’s message to agitators and people who threaten violence on ICE remains that “you will not stop us or slow us down.”

TRUMP URGES DHS, ICE TO PUBLICIZE ARRESTS, SAYS CRACKDOWN IS ‘SAVING MANY INNOCENT LIVES’

The agency said that assaulting and obstructing law enforcement is not only dangerous but is a federal crime and a felony. “And if you lay a hand on a law enforcement officer or dox our officers, you will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” it said in a statement.

In light of the voicemail, the agency urged the public to report threats, doxxing, harassment and other infractions against ICE agents by calling 1-866-DHS-2-ICE.

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Democrats have in turn floated impeachment proceedings against Noem over ICE’s operations, with Rep. Troy Carter of Louisiana confirming such in a hearing Monday called by the minority caucus of the House Homeland Security Committee.

Fox News Digital reached out to Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey for comment.

The Trump administration’s special envoy to combat antisemitism harshly criticized Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz for his comparison of the crackdown on illegal immigrant criminals the Holocaust and Anne Frank.

Walz was speaking to reporters Sunday following the fatal shooting of 37-year-old Alex Pretti, a U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) ICU nurse, during an encounter with immigration agents a day earlier. 

During a press briefing, Walz said some children in the state felt scared to go outside because of aggressive tactics being employed by federal agents. 

FBI DIRECTOR PATEL WARNS ELECTED OFFICIALS ‘NO ONE’ IS EXEMPT FROM FEDERAL SCRUTINY AMID MINNESOTA PROBE

“We have got children in Minnesota hiding in their houses, afraid to go outside. Many of us grew up reading that story of Anne Frank,” Walz said, referring to the German-Jewish teenager who documented her life in hiding during the Nazi persecution in World War II.

“Somebody is going to write that children’s story about Minnesota, and there’s one person who can end this now,” he added, referring to President Donald Trump. 

On Monday, Rabbi Yehuda Kaploun, Trump’s special envoy to monitor and combat antisemitism at the State Department, criticized the comparison, noting the difference between enforcing immigration law and genocide. 

“Ignorance like this cheapens the horror of the Holocaust. Anne Frank was in Amsterdam legally and abided by Dutch law,” he wrote on X. “She was hauled off to a death camp because of her race and religion. Her story has nothing to do with the illegal immigration, fraud, and lawlessness plaguing Minnesota today.”

ANTI-ICE AGITATOR ALLEGEDLY BITES OFF FEDERAL OFFICER’S FINGER DURING MINNEAPOLIS ATTACK

“Our brave law enforcement should be commended, not tarred with this historically illiterate and antisemitic comparison,” he added. 

StopAntisemitism, which tracks antisemitic incidents, also responded to Walz’s remarks. 

“For those who invoke the Holocaust or Anne Frank to score political points while staying silent as Jew-hatred explodes worldwide: shame on you,” the group wrote Monday on social media. “Exploiting the murder of 6 million Jews while refusing to confront today’s violent antisemitism isn’t remembrance, it’s abuse of history.”

Fox News Digital has reached out to the Minnesota governor’s office. 

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The Trump administration and the Department of Homeland Security have said federal agents are targeting illegal immigrants who have committed crimes while in the United States. Some of the worst offenders have been arrested for or charged with violent crimes and sex crimes against children, DHS has said. 

The Pentagon’s newly released National Defense Strategy warns that future wars may no longer be fought solely overseas, arguing the U.S. military must be prepared to conduct combat operations directly from the American homeland as adversaries gain the ability to strike the United States itself.

The strategy, released Friday evening, elevates homeland defense above all other missions, calling for expanded missile defense, counter-drone systems, cyber capabilities and long-range strike forces capable of launching decisive operations from U.S. soil. Pentagon planners describe a global threat environment that is faster, more dangerous and far less forgiving than in past decades.

“The Joint Force must be ready to deter and, if called upon, to prevail … including the ability to launch decisive operations against targets anywhere — including directly from the U.S. Homeland,” the strategy states.

“More direct military threats to the American Homeland have also grown in recent years, including nuclear threats as well as a variety of conventional strike and space, cyber, electromagnetic warfare capabilities,” it adds.

CHINA’S GLOBAL AGGRESSION CHECK: TAIWAN TENSIONS, MILITARY POSTURING, AND US RESPONSE IN 2025

Russia and China both field intercontinental ballistic missiles that can reach the continental United States, while North Korea has tested long-range missiles that U.S. officials say are capable of hitting U.S. territory. Iran is not believed to possess intercontinental ballistic missiles capable of reaching U.S. soil.

As a result, the Pentagon will prioritize President Donald Trump’s planned Golden Dome missile defense shield, with a focus on defeating “large missile barrages and other advanced aerial attacks,” while also hardening military and key civilian infrastructure against cyber strikes. 

“The United States should never — will never — be left vulnerable to nuclear blackmail,” the strategy says, as it calls for continued modernization of the nation’s nuclear deterrent.

After years of focusing on a potential conflict with China in the Indo-Pacific, the strategy makes clear the Pentagon will seek what it calls a “stable peace” with Beijing, including expanded military-to-military communications.

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“We will also be clear-eyed and realistic about the speed, scale, and quality of China’s historic military buildup,” the document says. “Our goal … is simple: To prevent anyone, including China, from being able to dominate us or our allies.”

Pentagon planners argue deterrence will rely less on confrontation and more on denying China the ability to win a fight outright, particularly in the western Pacific, by blocking attempts to dominate U.S. allies or control key maritime routes.

But China is not the only concern.

TRUMP REWRITES NATIONAL SECURITY PLAYBOOK AS MASS MIGRATION OVERTAKES TERRORISM AS TOP US THREAT

The strategy warns the United States could face multiple crises at the same time, with adversaries acting together or exploiting moments of distraction — raising the risk that conflicts overseas could overlap and reach the homeland early.

To manage that risk, the Pentagon is pressing allies to shoulder more of the burden. The strategy calls on European and Indo-Pacific partners to dramatically increase defense spending, freeing U.S. forces to focus on homeland defense and the most dangerous threats.

The document also sharpens the Pentagon’s focus closer to home, treating border security, drug trafficking and access to key terrain as core military missions. It calls for readiness to take decisive action against narco-terrorist groups and to protect strategic locations including the Panama Canal and Greenland.

Distance, the strategy argues, is no longer a shield. Long-range missiles, cyber weapons and drones now allow adversaries to reach the United States directly, compressing warning times and raising the risk that future wars could hit American soil early.

To keep pace, the Pentagon calls for a rapid rebuild of the U.S. defense industrial base, warning that America must be able to produce weapons and equipment at scale if it hopes to deter — or survive — a prolonged fight.

The strategy describes Russia as a serious but declining threat, warning Moscow still poses dangers through its nuclear arsenal and cyber, space and undersea capabilities, even as the Pentagon argues Europe is now capable of taking the lead in its own defense.

“Russia will remain a persistent but manageable threat to NATO’s eastern members for the foreseeable future,” the document says, noting Russia continues to modernize “the world’s largest nuclear arsenal.” The strategy makes clear Washington expects NATO allies to shoulder far more responsibility, arguing Europe’s economic and military potential far outpaces Russia’s if allies invest accordingly.

On Iran, the Pentagon paints a picture of a regime weakened by recent U.S. and Israeli military action but still dangerous and unpredictable.

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“Iran’s regime is weaker and more vulnerable than it has been in decades,” the strategy says, while warning Iran’s leaders “have left open the possibility that they will try again to obtain a nuclear weapon.”

The document stresses Tehran’s continued hostility toward the United States and Israel, noting Iran “has the blood of Americans on its hands,” and emphasizes empowering allies, particularly Israel and U.S. partners in the Gulf, to deter Iran and respond decisively if American interests are threatened.

Iran regularly touts its ballistic missile arsenal as a central pillar of its deterrent and retaliatory strategy, showcasing new medium-range and “hypersonic” systems and warning they can strike regional rivals and U.S. interests in the Middle East. 

China, meanwhile, has pushed back strongly against the U.S. Golden Dome missile defense initiative, accusing Washington of undermining global strategic stability and risking the weaponization of outer space.

President Donald Trump said he had a “very good call” with Democratic Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz Monday as tensions in Minneapolis flare following the shooting of Alex Pretti by a federal immigration officer on Saturday. 

“Governor Tim Walz called me with the request to work together with respect to Minnesota. It was a very good call, and we, actually, seemed to be on a similar wavelength. I told Governor Walz 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,” Trump posted to Truth Social Monday. 

Chaos has continued in Minnesota over the weekend, including agitators confronting law enforcement at a hotel on Sunday evening. Protests and tensions heightened Saturday after Border Patrol agents in Minnesota fatally shot Pretti.

Federal officials say Pretti approached agents with a 9 mm handgun and resisted disarmament, while witnesses have cast doubt if Pretti, an ICU nurse, posed a threat to agents. 

FORMER ICE AGENT CALLS POLICE NON-COOPERATION ‘FORMULA FOR DISASTER’ AFTER SECOND MINNEAPOLIS SHOOTING DEATH

“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, D.C., 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 Walz and I want to make it better!” Trump continued in his post. 

FEDERAL IMMIGRATION OFFICIALS PRIVATELY FUME OVER DHS CLAIMS AFTER DEADLY MINNESOTA SHOOTING

Trump announced Monday that he was deploying White House border czar Tom Homan to Minnesota and that he will report directly to the president. 

JD VANCE SHARES ‘CRAZY’ STORY OF ICE AND CBP OFFICERS BEING MOBBED IN MINNEAPOLIS

“Tom Homan will be managing ICE operations on the ground in Minnesota and coordinating with others on the ongoing fraud investigations,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox Digital on Monday. 

Homan is expected to arrive in Minnesota Monday evening. 

Trump told The Wall Street Journal Sunday that his administration is “reviewing everything,” surrounding the case, but did not say whether the agent who shot Pretti acted appropriately.

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The fatal shooting follows the Jan. 7 fatal ICE shooting of Renee Good, which sparked widespread backlash from Democrats and other critics of the administration that Good was “murdered” at the hands of the government. 

FIRST ON FOX: A cohort of Senate Republicans plans to launch a targeted task force aimed at tackling fraudsters in the wake of the Minnesota fraud scandal.

Republican members of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee announced that they would form a task force dedicated to rooting out fraudsters abusing federal funding.

The seven-member panel will be led by HELP Committee Chair Bill Cassidy, R-La., who has cranked up efforts in recent weeks to crack down on fraud, particularly in Minnesota.

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“Our tax dollars are supposed to help American families, not line the pockets of fraudsters,” Cassidy said in a statement to Fox News Digital. “HELP Committee Republicans are committed to rooting out this fraud and ensuring Americans’ tax dollars are used responsibly.”

The long-running, nearly six-year-long investigation into alleged fraud in Minnesota gained new attention and traction among Republicans and the White House earlier this year.

The scandal, in which federal prosecutors estimate that up to $9 billion was stolen through a network of fraudulent fronts posing as daycare centers, food programs and health clinics, has dominated the bandwidth of many in the GOP and spurred the Trump administration’s deployment of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents into Minneapolis.

The majority of those charged, so far, in the ongoing investigation are part of Minnesota’s Somali population. The Trump administration has taken steps outside the deploying of ICE agents to target Somalis in the area, too, including ending protected status for the population and launching investigations into whether the fraudulent activity is connected to al-Shabab, a terrorist organization based in Somalia.

SENATE DEMS REVOLT AGAINST DHS FUNDING BILL AMID MINNEAPOLIS CHAOS, HIKING GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN RISK

The task force will delineate its focus into three prongs: health, education and labor and pensions.

Those three subgroups will be led by Sens. Ashley Moody, R-Fla., Roger Marshall, R-Kan., who will lead the health-focused section, Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., Jon Husted, who will lead the education-focused group, and R-Ohio, Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., and Tim Scott, R-S.C., who will chair the labor-and-pensions-focused section.

But the task force’s announcement comes at a precarious time, as lawmakers hurtle toward what could be another government shutdown fueled in large part by the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) actions in Minnesota. 

SENATE DEMOCRATS REBEL AGAINST THEIR OWN LEADERSHIP OVER DHS FUNDING PACKAGE, INCREASING SHUTDOWN ODDS

That situation comes after Senate Democrats, led by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., signaled their plan to reject the DHS funding bill following the fatal shooting of 37-year-old Alex Pretti on Saturday by a border patrol agent. Cassidy, along with a handful of other congressional Republicans, demanded that the incident receive a fulsome and thorough investigation. 

Still, Cassidy’s effort is not the first time he’s forayed into the Minnesota fraud scandal.

Earlier this month, the lawmaker led the entire Senate GOP in a letter to Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, demanding that he provide receipts on several issues, and warned that failure to do so could lead to several streams of federal money flowing to Minnesota drying up.

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That effort was centered on several requests, like how often the state conducted on-site monitoring, inspections or investigative visits to childcare facilities that received federal dollars.

Senate Republicans specifically wanted examples of any information uncovered on fake children, false attendance records, over-billing, ineligible enrollments, and shell or fake business structures, among other demands from Walz.

President Donald Trump is sending border czar Tom Homan to Minnesota, the president announced on Monday.

Trump said Homan will report “directly to me” and will help lead the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations in Minneapolis and St. Paul. The Justice Department and Congress are also investigating Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., Trump says.

“I am sending Tom Homan to Minnesota tonight. He has not been involved in that area, but knows and likes many of the people there. Tom is tough but fair, and will report directly to me,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.

“Separately, a major investigation is going on with respect to the massive 20 Billion Dollar, Plus, Welfare Fraud that has taken place in Minnesota, and is at least partially responsible for the violent organized protests going on in the streets,” he continued.

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“Additionally, the DOJ and Congress are looking at ‘Congresswoman’ Illhan Omar, who left Somalia with NOTHING, and is now reportedly worth more than 44 Million Dollars. Time will tell all,” he added.

Homan’s deployment comes amid widespread unrest in the Twin Cities over the deployment of ICE. Two anti-ICE protesters have been killed by federal agents this month, Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti.

Pretti’s killing over the weekend is under fresh investigation.

JUDGE BLOCKS TRUMP ADMIN FROM ‘DESTROYING OR ALTERING’ EVIDENCE IN DEADLY MINNEAPOLIS SHOOTING

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt did not clarify whether Homan’s deployment means Trump has lost confidence with existing ICE leadership in Minnesota.

“Tom Homan will be managing ICE operations on the ground in Minnesota and coordinating with others on the ongoing fraud investigations,” Leavitt told Fox News Digital.

The Trump administration blames organized agitators for harassing ICE operations, which are targeting criminal illegal aliens.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether Trump has lost confidence with the federal law enforcement leaders already on the ground in Minnesota.

Federal officials say violent unrest in Minneapolis directly derailed one immigration arrest last week, leaving an ICE agent permanently maimed after a protester bit off part of his finger.

U.S. Border Patrol Commander at Large Greg Bovino said during a press conference on Sunday that Border Patrol and ICE agents were forced to abandon a targeted operation after crowds interfered, assaulted officers and turned the scene chaotic.

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As a result, he said, the suspect escaped custody. He blamed this solely on the decisions made by politicians, activists and those who confronted law enforcement officials.

“This individual is still roaming the streets today,” Bovino said. “This individual walks the streets today because of those choices made by politicians and those, perhaps, weaker-minded constituents that chose to follow directions of those politicians. Sad state of affairs.”

Speaking to global leaders in Davos, Switzerland, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy delivered a blunt warning to Europe about its self-defense.  

“Europe needs to know how to defend itself,” he said, arguing that the continent still isn’t ready to stand on its own without U.S. backing.

Zelensky’s remarks reflected a growing anxiety across Europe — that decades of reliance on American protection left the continent ill-prepared for a more dangerous era. While European countries have contributed troops, weapons and money to conflicts from Afghanistan to Ukraine, the ultimate backstop for NATO’s security has remained Washington.

President Donald Trump has openly challenged that assumption, repeatedly warning NATO allies that U.S. protection should not be taken for granted, and insisting the U.S. needed to take Greenland from Denmark

Before he ruled out the use of force to wrest control of the island, European officials had worried about a military dust-up between Western powers would mean the end of NATO.

“Maybe we should have put NATO to the test: Invoked Article 5, and forced NATO to come here and protect our Southern Border from further Invasions of Illegal Immigrants, thus freeing up large numbers of Border Patrol Agents for other tasks,” Trump mused on Truth Social Thursday.

Trump’s suggestion that the U.S. may not defend allies that fail to invest in their own security rattled the alliance and pushed European governments to pledge sharp increases in defense spending.

Even so, European leaders continue to acknowledge how central U.S. power remains to NATO’s defense. NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte has pointed to the American nuclear umbrella as the alliance’s “ultimate guarantor,” alongside a strong U.S. conventional presence in Europe.

“We are still having a strong, conventional U.S. presence in Europe,” Rutte said, “and, of course, the nuclear umbrella as our ultimate guarantor.”

TRUMP: EUROPE WILL ‘TAKE A LOT OF THE BURDEN’ IN PROVIDING SECURITY GUARANTEES FOR UKRAINE

Security analysts say that long-standing guarantee shaped Europe’s choices over time.

“For much of the post–Cold War period, it is fair to say that Europeans underinvested in defense, partly because threats were low, and partly because a series of U.S. presidents did everything they could to convince Europeans that we would stay there forever,” Barry Posen, a professor of political science at MIT, told Fox News Digital.

“Trump was right to argue that Europeans have been slow to fix up their forces as the situation changed — as Russia pulled itself back together and became more demanding and threatening, and as China also grew its power,” Posen said.

But Posen warned that driving a wedge inside NATO carries risks. “The problem Trump faces is that ‘conditional commitments’ make challenges more likely,” he said. “And then we would still have to decide what to do. As a great power, in the event of an actual challenge, we might not wish to look weak.”

Over time, those choices carried political consequences. With American power serving as the backstop, defense spending was easier to restrain than politically popular domestic subsidies such as healthcare, pensions and education, which became entrenched in European politics.

As defense demands rise, governments are running into those constraints. In Italy, officials have warned that boosting military spending to meet NATO commitments would strain an already tight budget, where pensions and social benefits account for a large share of public spending.

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Germany found a way to buy time. After Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Berlin created a €100 billion special defense fund — financed through new borrowing and kept outside the regular budget — to rebuild its military without immediately cutting other spending. The move jump-started rearmament while shielding popular social programs from near-term cuts. But the fund is temporary. Once it runs out, sustaining higher defense spending will require permanent budget decisions inside a system built around strict fiscal rules and expansive social commitments.

John Byrne of Concerned Veterans for America said Europe’s dependence on the United States runs deeper than defense budgets. Even as European governments pledge more spending, Byrne said they still lack the senior-level experience needed to run NATO operations without U.S. leadership.

“They don’t have the experience,” Byrne said, pointing to the fact that large, multinational military commands have overwhelmingly been led by American generals for decades. “That institutional knowledge still sits almost entirely with the United States.”

Byrne said that gap matters in a crisis. Running complex, coalition military operations requires years of practice at the highest levels, he said — something that cannot be fixed quickly, even with higher spending.

“You can buy equipment,” Byrne said. “You can’t instantly buy command experience.”

During his address at Davos on Thursday, Zelenskyy questioned whether Europe has the power  or the will  to act independently if assumptions about U.S. protection change.

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“Europe still feels more like geography, history, tradition, not a real political force, not a great power,” Zelenskyy said.

He warned that European leaders continue to plan around expectations that may no longer hold. “To believe that the United States will act, that it will not stand aside and will help,” Zelenskyy said. “But what if it doesn’t? This question is everywhere in the minds of European leaders.”

The World Health Organization on Saturday warned that America’s withdrawal from the agency will make the country and the world “less safe.”

The globalist body said in part of a January 24 statement that it “regrets the United States’ notification of withdrawal from WHO – a decision that makes both the United States and the world less safe.” 

“We hope that in the future, the United States will return to active participation in WHO,” the statement noted.

US FORMALLY EXITS WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION, LOCKING IN TRUMP’S BREAK FROM GLOBAL HEALTH BODY

The U.S. announced its withdrawal from the WHO last week, after President Donald Trump got the ball rolling on his first day back in office last year.

“Today, the United States withdrew from the World Health Organization (WHO), freeing itself from its constraints, as President Trump promised on his first day in office by signing E.O. 14155,” U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said in part of a January 22, 2026, joint statement.

UN CHIEF ACCUSES US OF DITCHING INTERNATIONAL LAW AS TRUMP BLASTS GLOBAL BODIES

“Going forward, U.S. engagement with the WHO will be limited strictly to effectuate our withdrawal and to safeguard the health and safety of the American people. All U.S. funding for, and staffing of, WHO initiatives has ceased,” their statement said.

They claimed the WHO “pursued a politicized, bureaucratic agenda driven by nations hostile to American interests.” But the WHO pushed back.

TRUMP FLOATS ‘BOARD OF PEACE’ TO REPLACE UN, SIGNALS MAJOR GLOBAL POWER SHIFT

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“This is untrue. As a specialized agency of the United Nations, governed by 194 Member States, WHO has always been and remains impartial and exists to serve all countries, with respect for their sovereignty, and without fear or favor,” the WHO said in its statement.

President Trump confirmed his administration is “reviewing everything” in the wake of the Minneapolis shooting that left 37-year-old nurse Alex J. Pretti dead.

Speaking to The Wall Street Journal, Trump stopped short of confirming whether the federal agent who fired the fatal shots on Jan. 24 acted appropriately.

“We’re looking, we’re reviewing everything and will come out with a determination,” Trump told the outlet as questions mounted over the incident and the broader immigration operation in the city.

Pretti, an ICU nurse, was shot and killed by a U.S. Border Patrol agent while filming federal officers on a Minneapolis street.

GOP SEN. CASSIDY BREAKS WITH TRUMP OVER DEADLY SHOOTING BY BORDER PATROL AGENT IN MINNEAPOLIS

The officer’s operation was targeting Jose Huerta-Chuma, an illegal immigrant with a criminal history including domestic assault for intentional conflict bodily harm, disorderly conduct and driving without a valid license.

Federal officials initially claimed Pretti approached agents with a 9 mm handgun and resisted disarmament.

Bystander video and eyewitness accounts circulating online raised questions about that version of events and whether Pretti was threatening officers when he was shot.

TIM WALZ COMPARES MINNESOTA ICE ACTIONS TO HOLOCAUST AND ANNE FRANK: ‘HIDING IN THEIR HOUSES’

“I don’t like any shooting. I don’t like it,” Trump said, adding that Pretti carried “a very powerful, fully loaded gun with two magazines… That doesn’t play good either.”

Trump also tied the federal presence in Minnesota to what he described as a sprawling welfare-fraud scandal in the state, arguing that immigration enforcement was necessary to address broader abuses.

“It’s the biggest fraud anyone has seen,” the president said.

The fraud claims in the state have been a central part of the administration’s need to ramp up federal operations there.

VANCE CALLS MINNEAPOLIS UNREST ‘ENGINEERED CHAOS’ AFTER DEADLY SHOOTING

The Minneapolis shooting of Pretti also marked the second death that happened in a confrontation between federal immigration officers and civilians in the city.

Renee Good was shot and killed on Jan. 7 by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent during a different operation.

That incident fueled protests and spotlighted the role of ICE in domestic law enforcement actions.

“At some point we will leave. We’ve done, they’ve done a phenomenal job,” Trump said without offering a time frame for when agents might depart.

“We’ll leave a different group of people there for the financial fraud,” he told the outlet.

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White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt has also stressed cooperation among law enforcement as essential.

“Nobody, including President Trump, wants to see people get shot or hurt,” Leavitt said, urging officials to work more closely with the administration in addressing undocumented individuals living in the country illegally.

Deep internal divisions have emerged within federal immigration enforcement over how the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is handling the public fallout and messaging after a deadly Border Patrol shooting in Minneapolis, Fox News has learned.

More than half a dozen federal law enforcement officials involved in immigration enforcement tell Fox News there is growing frustration with how senior officials have framed the incident publicly, fueling internal debates about tone, strategy and credibility as scrutiny intensifies.

The shooting happened during a morning immigration enforcement operation Saturday, when a Border Patrol agent fatally shot Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old Minneapolis resident and Veterans Affairs intensive care unit nurse. Authorities say Pretti was armed with a handgun and two magazines.

In the hours and days that followed, DHS officials publicly described Pretti as a domestic terrorist and said he was attempting to “inflict maximum damage” on federal agents or carry out a “massacre,” language that has drawn internal criticism from within the department, Fox News is told.

VANCE CALLS MINNEAPOLIS UNREST ‘ENGINEERED CHAOS’ AFTER DEADLY SHOOTING

Officials say multiple videos that later emerged have called into question the DHS narrative, fueling frustration among agents who believe senior officials moved too quickly to characterize the incident before all facts were known.

The internal disputes, officials say, have been damaging from a public relations and morale standpoint, eroding trust and credibility and intensifying broader debates within the administration over how DHS leadership handles high-profile, politically charged incidents.

The officials who spoke with Fox News said they support the mass deportation agenda, though they have serious hesitations about the messaging and how the agenda is being carried out.

GOP LAWMAKER RENEWS OVERSIGHT HEARING REQUEST OF DHS AGENCIES FOLLOWING FATAL SHOOTING IN MINNEAPOLIS

Some also expressed frustration that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is routinely blamed for the actions of the Border Patrol, which is a separate agency.

Some officials described DHS’ response to the shooting as “a case study on how not to do crisis PR,” with one saying they are so “fed up” that they wish they could retire, another saying “DHS is making the situation worse,” and another adding that “DHS is wrong” and “we are losing this war, we are losing the base and the narrative.”

Fox News reached out to DHS for comment on concerns that its rhetoric and communications may have damaged the agency’s credibility.

BORDER PATROL-INVOLVED SHOOTING REPORTED IN MINNEAPOLIS

“We have seen a highly coordinated campaign of violence against our law enforcement,” DHS said in a statement to Fox News. “This individual committed a federal crime while armed as he obstructed an active law enforcement operation. As with any situation that is evolving, we work to give swift, accurate information to the American people as more information becomes available.”

Officials say those internal frictions have now escalated, with widespread criticism that the aggressive tactics pushed by DHS Secretary Kristi Noem are eroding public support for the mass deportation agenda and putting federal agents at risk.

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Fox News previously reported in October that deep internal friction had emerged within the Trump administration’s mass deportation effort, with competing camps inside DHS divided over enforcement priorities, tactics and how aggressively to carry out deportations.

Former President Bill Clinton said on Sunday, after another fatal shooting in Minneapolis involving federal immigration agents, that agents are engaging in “increasingly aggressive and antagonistic tactics” and that the Trump administration told Americans not to believe what they can see for themselves.

Alex Pretti, 37, was shot and killed on Saturday by Border Patrol agents while recording federal immigration operations in Minneapolis. An ICU nurse, Pretti appeared to be attempting to attend to a woman agents knocked down when he was sprayed with an irritant, pushed to the ground and beaten. An agent was seen pulling Pretti’s gun from his waistband before other agents fired several shots and killed him.

The shooting follows recent unrest over the ICE-involved killing of Renee Nicole Good in the same city earlier this month.

“In recent weeks, we’ve watched horrible scenes play out in Minneapolis and other communities that I never thought would take place in America. People, including children, have been seized from their homes, workplaces, and the street by masked federal agents,” Clinton said in a statement.

BARACK AND MICHELLE OBAMA SLAM ICE AFTER MINNEAPOLIS SHOOTING, URGE ACCOUNTABILITY

“Peaceful protesters and citizens exercising their constitutional right to observe and document law enforcement have been arrested, beaten, teargassed, and most searingly, in the cases of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, shot and killed,” he continued.

Clinton said “this is unacceptable” and “should have been avoided.”

“To make matters even worse, at every turn, the people in charge have lied to us, told us not to believe what we’ve seen with our own eyes, and pushed increasingly aggressive and antagonistic tactics, including impeding investigations by local authorities,” he said.

BORDER PATROL-INVOLVED SHOOTING REPORTED IN MINNEAPOLIS

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“Over the course of a lifetime, we face only a few moments where the decisions we make and the actions we take will shape our history for years to come,” the former president added. “This is one of them. If we give our freedoms away after 250 years, we might never get them back. It is up to all of us who believe in the promise of American democracy to stand up, speak out, and show that our nation still belongs to We the People.”

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz on Sunday likened federal immigration enforcement in Minnesota to the Holocaust and “The Diary of a Young Girl” by Anne Frank following the second fatal shooting involving federal officers in Minneapolis.

The incident on Saturday left 37-year-old Alex Pretti, a U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) ICU nurse, dead during an encounter with immigration agents. Federal officials initially stated that Pretti was armed and resisted agents, while local accounts indicate Pretti was disarmed before he was fatally shot. 

During a press briefing, Walz claimed that some children in Minnesota now feel fear or uncertainty about going outside due to aggressive federal immigration operations.

“We have got children in Minnesota hiding in their houses, afraid to go outside. Many of us grew up reading that story of Anne Frank,” Walz said, referring to the German-Jewish teenager who documented her life in hiding during the Nazi persecution in World War II.

NARRATIVES CLASH AFTER TRUMP AND VICTIM’S FAMILY REACT TO SECOND MINNEAPOLIS SHOOTING

“Somebody is going to write that children’s story about Minnesota, and there’s one person who can end this now,” he said, referring to President Donald Trump. 

Walz further criticized Trump, saying the president smeared the victim, gaslit the entire country and sought to conceal evidence related to the killing.

“This family has gone through enough,” Walz said of Pretti’s relatives. “And to have the most powerful man in the world drag their dead son with absolutely no evidence and gaslight the entire country.”

“Sitting behind a keyboard at 2 a.m. and besmirching a VA nurse and a son and a coworker and a friend is despicable beyond all description,” he added.

TODD BLANCHE WARNS AMERICANS ‘SHOULD BE WORRIED’ ABOUT MINNESOTA PROTESTS AFTER CHURCH DISRUPTION

Trump and senior White House officials defended the federal response after Saturday’s fatal shooting. Trump previously noted that Pretti was armed and carrying two extra magazines during the confrontation, while White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller called Pretti a “would-be assassin” and “domestic terrorist” who “tried to murder federal law enforcement.” Homeland Security Sec. Kristi Noem also noted that the victim “violently resisted” arrest, saying that the federal agent fired his weapon “fearing for his life.”

DHS SLAMS DEMS FOR COMPLAINING ABOUT IMMIGRATION LAW: ‘IT IS QUITE LITERALLY THEIR JOB TO CHANGE IT’

Walz, however, described Pretti as a modest American, emphasizing that he held a legally licensed concealed-carry permit, and blasted federal officials, including Vice President JD Vance and Border Patrol chief Gregory Bovino, for unfairly portraying Pretti as a “crazed domestic terrorist.”

“Beloved by his family, accomplished ICU nurse, skillful in ability to work with veterans, someone who is beloved by the community, no criminal record, lawful firearms owner,” Walz said. “And then you heard the most powerful people in the world, certainly in this country — president, vice president, Gregory Bovino, Kristi Noem — narrate to you what you were looking at, that this was a domestic terrorist, crazed, running at law enforcement with the intent to kill massive numbers of that, sullying his name within minutes of this event happening.”

ANTI-ICE AGITATOR ALLEGEDLY BITES OFF FEDERAL OFFICER’S FINGER DURING MINNEAPOLIS ATTACK

Walz also alleged that federal officials blocked state investigators from accessing the scene and sought to destroy or alter evidence related to the shooting. 

“Then closing the crime scene, sweeping away the evidence, defying a court order and not allowing anyone to look at it,” he said. “I don’t care if you are conservative and you are flying a Donald Trump flag… If we cannot all agree that the smearing of an American citizen and besmirching everything they stood for and asking us not to believe what we saw, I don’t know what else to tell you.”

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The Hennepin County Attorney’s Office and the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension filed a lawsuit Saturday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota seeking to prevent the destruction or alteration of evidence related to the shooting. The lawsuit names the Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Customs and Border Patrol, as well as Attorney General Pam Bondi as defendants. 

Fox News’ Anders Hagstrom contributed to this report.

Former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama said the killing of Alex Pretti was a national wake-up call, arguing that federal immigration agents in Minnesota are using tactics that intimidate and endanger residents while operating without sufficient accountability.

In their joint Sunday statement, the Obamas tied Pretti’s death to weeks of escalating federal immigration enforcement in Minnesota that has sparked protests, controversy and clashes between local residents and agents, saying the broader response to his shooting illustrates how the tactics being used have widened divisions and heightened tensions nationwide.

Federal officials said Pretti, a 37-year-old Minneapolis resident and Veterans Affairs ICU nurse, was fatally shot by a Border Patrol agent during an early-morning immigration enforcement operation targeting Jose Huerta-Chuma, an illegal immigrant with a criminal history.

Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officials said Pretti approached agents while armed with a 9mm pistol and “violently resisted” when officers attempted to disarm him. He was pronounced dead at the scene, and state officials said he had a valid permit to carry a firearm.

BORDER PATROL-INVOLVED SHOOTING REPORTED IN MINNEAPOLIS

Framing the shooting as a broader warning, the Obamas urged Americans to consider what they described as the wider implications of the incident and its aftermath.

“The killing of Alex Pretti is a heartbreaking tragedy. It should also be a wake-up call to every American, regardless of party, that many of our core values as a nation are increasingly under assault,” the Obamas said. “Federal law enforcement and immigration agents have a tough job. But Americans expect them to carry out their duties in a lawful, accountable way, and to work with, rather than against, state and local officials to ensure public safety.”

The Obamas said that is not what they are witnessing in Minnesota, arguing they are seeing the opposite.

NARRATIVES CLASH AFTER TRUMP AND VICTIM’S FAMILY REACT TO SECOND MINNEAPOLIS ICE SHOOTING

“For weeks now, people across the country have been rightly outraged by the spectacle of masked ICE recruits and other federal agents acting with impunity and engaging in tactics that seem designed to intimidate, harass, provoke and endanger the residents of a major American city,” they said. “These unprecedented tactics – which even the former top lawyer of the Department of Homeland Security in the first Trump administration has characterized as embarrassing, lawless and cruel – have now resulted in the fatal shootings of two U.S. citizens.”

The statement continued, accusing the Trump administration and DHS officials of failing to impose “some semblance of discipline and accountability” over agents deployed to Minnesota, and instead appearing “eager to escalate the situation.”

The Obamas also took aim at the Trump administration’s public explanations for both Pretti’s and Renee Good’s deaths – the latter a Minneapolis mother of three shot and killed on Jan. 7 by an ICE agent during a federal enforcement action – suggesting officials were drawing conclusions without thorough investigations and before all the evidence had been fully reviewed.

FREY, KLOBUCHAR CALL FOR ICE TO LEAVE MINNEAPOLIS FOLLOWING DEADLY CBP SHOOTING IN CITY

“This has to stop,” the Obamas said. “I would hope that after this most recent tragedy, administration officials will reconsider their approach, and start finding ways to work constructively with Governor [Tim] Walz and Mayor [Jacob] Frey as well as state and local police to avert more chaos and achieve legitimate law enforcement goals.”

They also encouraged Americans to support protests in Minneapolis and across the country.

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“In the meantime, every American should support and draw inspiration from the wave of peaceful protests in Minneapolis and other parts of the country,” the statement added. “They are a timely reminder that ultimately it’s up to each of us as citizens to speak out against injustice, protect our basic freedoms, and hold our government accountable.”

Fox News Digital has reached out to the Obamas for further comment.

A longtime Democratic operative who worked for top party figures before jumping into private ventures with the now-husband of Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., Tim Mynett, is back in the spotlight as swindling allegations resurface and Congress investigates Omar’s skyrocketing net worth via her husband’s companies, according to her financial disclosures.

William Hailer and Mynett, who met working for now-Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison when he was in Congress, were both political operatives before they turned to venture capitalism and the wine industry. Hailer was a senior advisor to former Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez and also has an extensive history working for Ellison, who was the DNC co-chair. Between consulting fees and reimbursements, Hailer raked in over $250,000 advising the DNC and Ellison, according to FEC filings.

The pair also co-founded the political consulting firm E Street Group, which raked in almost $3 million alone from Omar’s House campaigns, and then went on to co-found Rose Lake Capital LLC, a venture capital firm, and eStCru, a wine company, among a web of other ventures they have since embarked on. 

Through these business ventures, which include wine and cannabis, Hailer left a trail of fraud and swindling allegations tied to eSt Ventures, which was co-founded by Hailer and Mynett, and the subsequently formed Badlands Fund, which was created to control another investment fund that the pair also created called Badlands Ventures.

TRUMP CALLS FOR INVESTIGATION INTO ILHAN OMAR’S WELATH, SAYS IT SHOULD START ‘NOW’ 

“On information and belief, Defendants formed Badlands Ventures in order to defraud Plaintiffs by soliciting them for purported investments in Dakota and 605 with the present intention of stealing and/or misappropriating most of the money,” the cannabis lawsuit, which listed Hailer and Badlands Ventures as the defendant, states.

The lawsuit claims that the pair solicited donations from local South Dakota cannabis growers who had been raising money among their friends and family. Hailer allegedly promised them that he already had big investors lined up, and would bring in multi-millions more if the local growers forked over around $3.5 million. 

However, the additional investment never appeared to materialize despite months of promises that the funds were not far away, according to court complaints. While the money has since been returned, according to public reporting, the defendants claimed that after signing a proposed settlement they were still struggling to get the full amount that they gave to Hailer back. Hailer returned $1.86 million in August 2022 and another $500,000 in October 2023, while the final settlement in 2024 got the remaining $1.2 million back to the investors that was still missing. 

The cannabis investors’ attorney eventually said the dispute was settled “amicably.” Meanwhile, local media questioned how Hailer was able to pay the money back considering discovery documents in the case reportedly showed he had less than $750 combined across various business and personal bank accounts.   

Following the cannabis incident, Hailer and Mynett faced further allegations of fraud related to their California wine business, eStCru, which saw its valuation jump from between just $15,000 to $50,000 in 2023 to between $1 million and $5 million in 2024. 

The winery first appeared on Omar’s disclosure reports after she and Mynett tied the knot in 2020 and the massive valuation jump comes just five years after Hailer complained that eStCru could barely keep the lights on during the COVID-19 pandemic. “ESTCRU LLC like many wineries is living invoice to invoice, sale to sale, to stay afloat given the economic conditions of the industry,” Hailer told the Minnesota Reformer in response to more fraud allegations against him and his wine business with Mynett.

OMAR RIPPED FOR ‘INCITING VIOLENCE’ AFTER MINNEAPOLIS ICE SHOOTING: ‘MAKE SURE THESE PEOPLE PAY’

The situation involved similar promises left unkept aimed at drawing in investors. The business deal involved a D.C.-area restaurant owner who was recommended to invest in Hailer and Mynett’s wine venture by his attorney, Faisal Gill, who also happened to be a former Democratic operative as well, per the Rhode Island Current. “I trusted Tim,” Gill told the outlet. “If it was not for Tim, the deal would have never happened.”

The restaurant owner, Naeem Mohd, wired $300,000 to Hailer and Mynett, but alleged he never received the 200% returns in 18 months that the pair promised him, arguing the pair knew that the promises were false. Hailer and Mynett also allegedly promised 10% monthly interest payments for as long as the restaurant owner did not see returns, but once again the investor argued that the pair knew this would never come to fruition.

Mohd also alleged in court filings that Hailer and Mynette pressured him into signing an agreement preventing him from filing further suit against them.

In response to the accusations of fraud, a spokesperson told Fox News Digital for the pair’s venture capital firm responded that “Any disputes with these parties have been settled with cases dismissed with prejudice (can not be brought again).” 

Hailer and Mynett’s Rose Lake Capital, the other firm that saw a massive valuation jump on Omar’s financial filings – listed as being worth between $1 and $1,000 in 2023 and then skyrocketing to between $5 million and $25 million the following year – was recently embroiled in misrepresentation allegations as well. 

Amid the scrutiny into the firm’s massive jump in valuation shown in Congresswoman Omar’s most recent financial filings, the firm co-founded by Hailer and Mynett came under fire for scrubbing their firm’s website of various high-profile individuals that it claimed were its advisors. Among those listed were former members of Congress and other well-connected persons, including former Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont.

MINNESOTA’S WELFARE FRAUD DISASTER EXPOSES A NATIONAL SYSTEM DESIGNED TO FAIL

Baucus said he only had a single phone call with Hailer back in 2022 regarding a proposed deal pertaining to storage units but then “nothing came of it,” according to The New York Post.

“He stopped writing his emails about the investment – about how well he’s doing, all that stuff. You can read between the lines – it sounded a little bit fishy,” he said, adding that no one ever cleared it with him to use his name as an “advisor” on Rose Lake’s website.

A spokesperson for Rose Lake defended the move, noting it was in response to “hate-filled messages” and accused Baucus of making “false” statements to the media. 

“All names were removed from the website when hate-filled messages were being sent to various members listed by individuals who have read stories in various publications,” the spokesperson told Fox News Digital. “Ambassador Baucus should review any contracts he executed with the company before saying false and potentially libelous statements to the press.” 

Hailer and Rose Lake Capital were also embroiled in a Chapter 11 bankruptcy case that included allegations Hailer was encouraged to leave the country so he wouldn’t have to testify and would disrupt the sale. When asked during the bankruptcy hearing why he didn’t get on the flight to Dubai in order to skip the hearing, Hailer said, “Sometimes it’s better to do the right than the easy thing.”

Currently, both congressional and federal investigators are looking into the massive valuation jump by Hailer and Mynett’s venture capital fund and wine business. The scrutiny follows backlash from the 2019 – 2020 election cycle, during which Omar was caught funneling millions in campaign cash to a firm Mynett co-founded with Hailer called the E Street Group. 

The expenses covered a range of services, including cable advertising, “digital consulting,” video production and editing. Omar claimed that her relationship with her husband began long after her campaign started working with his firm. The payments, while not illegal, generated backlash for Omar and her husband.

In 2021, Republicans in Congress introduced the Oversight for Members And Relatives Act or “OMAR Act,” aimed at closing the loophole in federal anti-nepotism law that permitted Omar to funnel her campaign cash to Mynett and his firm.

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“For too long, lawmakers of both political parties have engaged in the ethically dubious practice of pocketing campaign funds by ‘hiring’ their spouses and laundering the money as campaign related expenses,” Rep. Tom Tiffany, R-Wisc., said at the time. 

The fresh scrutiny into Omar and her husband comes amid rampant fraud uncovered in Minnesota under the purview of Democratic Party leaders that estimates say could amount to as much as $9 billion in missing funds, and questions on whether Omar or anyone else benefited from it. The fraud has involved various social services and welfare schemes, including Medicare and childcare funding, and many of those convicted have been part of Minnesota’s ballooning Somali population.

Fox News Digital reached out to Hailer, Mynett, and Omar’ office.

Sam Dorman, Peter Hasson and Fox News Digital’s Leo Briceno contributed to this report.

President Donald Trump said Sunday that it was “too late” to halt construction of a new ballroom at the White House, despite a newly filed lawsuit challenging the project.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump described the ballroom as “a GIFT (ZERO taxpayer funding) to the United States of America,” estimating its cost at $300 million and saying it was financed through private donations.

Trump said the lawsuit was brought by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, criticizing the group for filing it after construction was already underway.

FEDERAL JUDGE QUESTIONS TRUMP AUTHORITY ON WHITE HOUSE BALLROOM PROJECT

“Why didn’t these obstructionists and troublemakers bring their baseless lawsuit much earlier?” he wrote.

Trump added that the East Wing was “changed, built and rebuilt over the years” and that “it bore no resemblance or relationship to the original building.”

On July 31, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt announced the planned construction of a 90,000-square-foot ballroom. The sprawling ballroom will accommodate approximately 650 seated guests and will stay true to the classical design of the White House.

The White House does not have a formal ballroom, and the new ballroom will take the place of the current East Wing of the White House. 

Since his return to office, Trump has wasted no time in reshaping the look and feel of the White House and the National Mall.

SUPREME COURT SET TO HEAR CASE IN TRUMP FIGHT OVER LISA COOK’S FED SEAT

Trump has previously unveiled a new monument dubbed the “Arc de Trump,” which is planned to commemorate the nation’s 250th anniversary next year.

He said the large arch, a near twin of Paris’s iconic Arc de Triomphe, will welcome visitors crossing the Arlington Memorial Bridge from Arlington National Cemetery into the heart of the nation’s capital.

Trump’s taste for opulence is unmistakable in the Oval Office, where golden accents now decorate the nation’s most iconic workspace, a reflection of his personal style.

Since then, Trump has added gold accents throughout the Oval Office to include decorative details along the ceiling and around the doorway trim. Even the cherubs inside the door frames were given a gilded makeover.

TRUMP GAVE THE OVAL OFFICE A GILDED MAKEOVER – AND COVERED THE COST HIMSELF

Outside the Oval Office, the Trump administration unveiled the “Presidential Walk of Fame,” a series of portraits of past presidents now displayed along the West Wing colonnade.

The portrait of former President Joe Biden features his signature, created with an autopen, a machine that holds a pen and reproduces a person’s handwriting through programmed movements. The Trump administration has also installed several large mirrors in gold frames along the walkway.

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Trump also said he renovated the Lincoln bathroom in the White House because it did not reflect the style of President Abraham Lincoln’s era. 

“I renovated the Lincoln Bathroom in the White House. It was renovated in the 1940s in an art-deco green tile style, which was totally inappropriate for the Lincoln Era,” Trump wrote in an Oct. 31 Truth Social post.

The Trump administration is sharply criticizing Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, accusing him of undermining law enforcement and blocking cooperation with federal immigration authorities.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt took aim at Walz in a social media post, writing that the governor has failed to cooperate with federal agencies, especially Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), during large-scale enforcement operations.

“Tim Walz does NOT believe in law and order,” Leavitt’s post read. “No amount of propaganda from his allies in the liberal media will convince the American people otherwise.”

Walz has sharply rebuked the federal presence following several controversial shootings involving immigration agents, including the death of Minneapolis resident Renée Good in early January and again on Sunday a day after another fatal shooting that resulted in the death of 37-year-old Alex Pretti.

BONDI VOWS ACCOUNTABILITY AFTER CHURCH ATTACK, SAYS MINNESOTA ‘A MESS RIGHT NOW’

“Minnesota believes in law and order,” Walz wrote in a post on X earlier Sunday. “We believe in peace. And we believe that Trump needs to pull his 3,000 untrained agents out of Minnesota before they kill another American in the street.”

Leavitt claimed the governor has refused to allow law enforcement to work with ICE to arrest and remove what she described as “dangerous criminal illegal aliens.”

According to Leavitt, since President Donald Trump took office, Walz has released “nearly 500 criminal illegal aliens back onto Minnesota’s streets” rather than transferring them to federal custody.

MAYOR FREY SHARES HIGHLY PRODUCED VIDEO SPEAKING ON LATINO RADIO STATION: ‘YOU’RE BRAVE AND YOU’RE TOUGH’

She further accused Walz of spreading “malicious lies” about federal law enforcement officers, saying his rhetoric has put officers in danger while they carry out immigration enforcement operations.

Leavitt said Walz has encouraged “left-wing agitators to stalk and record federal officers,” leading to officers being “doxxed, targeted, impeded, and placed in extremely dangerous situations.”

She also pointed to Walz’s handling of civil unrest in 2020, writing, “Don’t forget, this is the same Tim Walz who allowed rioters to burn Minneapolis in the summer of 2020” following the murder of George Floyd.

She further accused Walz of overseeing “massive fraud schemes” in Minnesota that she said resulted in “tens of billions of dollars in stolen American taxpayer funds.”

Leavitt said Trump “will never back down” from his pledge to deport violent criminal illegal aliens, a promise she said nearly 80 million Americans supported over what she called the “Open Borders Agenda of Kamala Harris and Tim Walz.”

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She urged Walz to change course and cooperate with federal authorities.

“Governor Walz should do the right thing by Minnesotans and work WITH, rather than AGAINST, federal law enforcement,” Leavitt wrote, pointing to states like Florida and Texas and cities like Washington, D.C., as examples where cooperation has led to “peace and safety.”

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said Sunday that Canada has no plans to pursue a free trade deal with China, pushing back against President Trump’s threat to slap 100% tariffs on Canadian goods.

Carney said Canada’s recent agreement with China only rolled back tariffs in a few sectors that had been hit in recent years and did not amount to a free trade deal. He noted that under the U.S.–Mexico–Canada Agreement, Canada has committed not to pursue free trade agreements with nonmarket economies without prior notification.

“We have no intention of doing that with China or any other nonmarket economy,” Carney said. “What we have done with China is to rectify some issues that developed in the last couple of years.”

Carney made his first official visit to China earlier this month as he and Chinese President Xi Jinping work together to forge an improved bond between their countries. The leaders reached an agreement that would allow up to 49,000 Chinese electric vehicles to enter the Canadian market at a lower tariff rate of 6.1%, Carney’s office said.

US TRADE REP SHRUGS OFF WORLD LEADERS’ SWIPES AT TRUMP AMID DAVOS BACKLASH

In 2024, Canada matched U.S. trade policy by imposing a 100% tariff on Chinese electric vehicles and a 25% tariff on steel and aluminum. China retaliated with 100% duties on Canadian canola oil and meal and 25% tariffs on pork and seafood.

Trump issued his tariff threat in a social media post, warning that if Carney “thinks he is going to make Canada a ‘Drop Off Port’ for China to send goods and products into the United States, he is sorely mistaken.”

TRUMP WARNS CANADA OF 100% TARIFFS IF IT BECOMES CHINA’S ‘DROP OFF PORT’ WITH NEW POTENTIAL TRADE DEAL

In another post on Sunday, Trump claimed Canada is being taken over by China.

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“China is successfully and completely taking over the once Great Country of Canada,” Trump’s post read. “So sad to see it happen. I only hope they leave Ice Hockey alone!”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche defended the actions of federal law enforcement in Minnesota on Sunday as Minneapolis reels from a second killing of an anti-ICE protester.

Blanche made the comments during an appearance on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” telling host Kristen Welker that the vast majority of ICE’s operations have gone forward without incident.

Welker highlighted a handful of examples that have faced criticism, including the deadly shootings of Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti this month.

“Yes, our agents are acting humanely,” Blanche said.

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“Their jobs are very, very difficult,” he continued. “It is a very difficult place to be going out and trying to arrest these violent felons with no support from local law enforcement, with no support from the governor.”

Blanche went on to state that there have been “thousands of arrests” in Minnesota, but critics focus on “two or three things that are pointed to as being wrong or being too aggressive or not being appropriate.”

“That’s not fair to the men and women that are doing this every day,” he added.

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Blanche’s appearance comes as investigations into the Pretti’s death are just beginning. Homeland Security Sec. Kristi Noem said the victim, who was armed, “violently resisted” arrest and that the federal agent fired his weapon “fearing for his life.”

Footage of the incident shows an agent disarmed Pretti shortly before he was killed. He entered into the initial scuffle with agents as he tried to assist another protester who had been pushed by law enforcement.

A federal judge has blocked the Trump administration from “destroying or altering evidence” related to the shooting on Sunday.

Pretti’s parents, Michael and Susan Pretti, said Saturday that they are “heartbroken but also very angry,” and condemned the version of events presented by law enforcement as “sickening lies.”

“Alex was a kindhearted soul who cared deeply for his family and friends and also the American veterans whom he cared for as an ICU nurse at the Minneapolis VA hospital,” the couple wrote.

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“The sickening lies told about our son by the administration are reprehensible and disgusting. Alex is clearly not holding a gun when attacked by Trump’s murdering and cowardly ICE thugs. He has his phone in his right hand and his empty left hand is raised above his head while trying to protect the woman ICE just pushed down all while being pepper sprayed,” they continued.

A Republican lawmaker is calling for an oversight hearing of Department of Homeland Security (DHS) agencies, renewing a request from earlier this month as attention turns to a fatal shooting involving federal agents in Minneapolis.

Rep. Andrew Garbarino, R-N.Y., chair of the House Homeland Security Committee, said Saturday he is seeking testimony from senior DHS officials following the death of 37-year-old Alex Pretti.

Garbarino said the request builds on an invitation issued by committee staff on Jan. 15, which he is now formally following up on.

The officials he named include acting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Director Todd Lyons, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Commissioner Rodney Scott, and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Director Joseph Edlow.

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“As chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security, my top priority remains keeping Americans safe and ensuring the Department of Homeland Security can accomplish its core mission,” Garbarino said. 

“I take my oversight duties for the department seriously, and Congress has an important responsibility to ensure the safety of law enforcement and the people they serve and protect,” he added. “I am committed to ensuring ICE, CBP, and USCIS are effectively using the historic resources provided through reconciliation to strengthen public safety, and I look forward to each of these agencies testifying before the Committee.”

Pretti’s death has intensified tensions in Minnesota and reverberated on Capitol Hill, as criticism of the way federal immigration enforcement is being conducted has fueled protests and political scrutiny.

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Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey called on the Trump administration to end its ICE operations in the state after the second shooting death of a U.S. citizen in recent weeks, saying they were not making the city safer.

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“This administration and everyone involved in this operation should be reflecting. They should be reflecting right now and asking themselves what exactly are you accomplishing? If the goal was to achieve peace and safety, this is doing exactly the opposite. If the goal was to achieve calm and prosperity, this is doing exactly the opposite,” he told reporters.

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DHS Secretary Kristi Noem pushed back against Frey during a press conference on Saturday, blaming him and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz for inflaming tensions and accusing them of encouraging resistance to federal law enforcement and refusing to cooperate with immigration authorities.

“They need to evaluate their rhetoric, their conversations, and their encouragement of such violence against our citizens and our law enforcement officers,” she said.