First lady Melania Trump on Tuesday called for “unity” in Minneapolis — and urged anti-ICE demonstrators to “protest in peace.”
“We need to unify. I’m calling for unity,” Trump, 55, told Fox News’ “Fox & Friends.”
She issued the plea a day after President Trump revealed he’d had “very good” calls with Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey amid the escalating violence over the killing of protester Alex Pretti at the hands of Border Patrol agents.
First lady Melania Trump urged people in Minnesota, “Please, if we protest, protest in peace and we need to unify in these times.” Fox News
Protesters confront police outside the hotel where top Border Patrol official Gregory Bovino is believed to be staying, in Maple Grove, a suburb of Minneapolis, Minnesota, January 26, 2026. CRAIG LASSIG/EPA/Shutterstock“I know my husband, the president, had a great call yesterday with the governor and the mayor, and they’re working together to make it peaceful and without riots,” Melania confirmed. “I’m against the violence.”
“Please, if we protest, protest in peace and we need to unify in these times,” she continued.
It comes after Trump on Monday shifted toward a more conciliatory approach with the state’s Democratic leaders following an outcry over the second fatal shooting by federal agents there this month.
Trump also announced that border czar Tom Homan was headed Minnesota to replace Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, who has come under fire for her extreme measures cracking down on immigration.
