With border czar Tom Homan headed to take charge of Homeland Security efforts in Minneapolis and President Trump finding some common ground with Gov. Tim Walz, a rapid reduction in tensions is thankfully well under way.
Alex Pretti’s death plainly prompted a sobering all around, as it should have.
We’re glad to see Homeland Security chief Kristi Noem elbowed aside. Her performance in recent weeks as the situation in Minnesota escalated out of control did not serve the president or the country well.
Without anyone backing off on matters of principle, state and federal leaders now can find some accommodation to avoid the lunatic faceoffs between federal agents and crowds of protesters and agitators.
That’s in everyone’s interest. Walz acknowledged as much by finally calling in the National Guard on Saturday to separate the two sides. Then Trump declared “we’re reviewing everything” in his Sunday night Wall Street Journal interview.
Their call Monday, by all accounts, continued the de-escalation.
Let’s hope some lessons were learned all around: Neither state nor federal leader seemed prepared for how quickly a covert lefty network turned protests into riots.
Walz insists his state was already complying with some of Trump’s reasonable four points for eliminating any need for an elevated federal presence; perhaps Minnesota can quietly move ahead on the rest.
Washington, meanwhile, is on notice that its rapid staffing up of ICE and the Border Patrol brought in a lot of guys who’ve not yet had full training — and that normal training covers making arrests, not dealing with crowds of protesters actively trying to interfere with enforcement.
We are not sure if this was behind US Border Patrol chief Greg Bovino and some agents being ordered out of Minneapolis on Monday. But it is welcome.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt did her usual masterful job Monday afternoon, refusing reporters’ bids for her to back off on Trump’s clearly stated positions or condemn any administration figures — while deftly distancing the president from the incendiary comments of some of his minions.
As she noted, the feds still need to deport “hundreds of thousands” of the “worst of the worst” criminal illegal immigrants waved in by the Biden crew — a goal Americans overwhelmingly support even as they blanch at the Minnesota madness.
Noem, who’s pushed a different deportation agenda, should be wondering if she herself will eventually be “deported” from the administration.
Homan is no shrinking violet, but he’s always been laser-focused on getting the violent criminals out; Walz would be wise to offer him maximum cooperation now.
It’s far harder for the hard left to rally against such common-sense enforcement, while cities that cooperate with reasonable federal requests see nothing like the Minneapolis insanity.
That’s enough common ground for almost everyone to stand on — sidelining those who can’t or won’t see sense.
