A newly obtained cellphone video shows the moments before Renee Good was fatally shot in her car in Minneapolis on Jan. 7, 2026. (Obtained by ABC News)
(NEW YORK) — In the days after federal officers shot and killed Alex Pretti in Minneapolis, there has been little polling on how Americans are reacting to the issue. But surveys fielded after Minneapolis woman Renee Good was shot and killed by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on Jan. 7 found most Americans saying the event was an inappropriate use of force and most voters saying her killing was unjustified.
Polling through the first half of January has found Americans largely at odds with the Trump administration on immigration, with just over half saying ICE enforcement actions were making cities less safe and nearly half saying they do not trust the government at all to carry out a fair and thorough investigation of Good’s shooting.
That is in addition to majorities disapproving of how ICE is enforcing immigration laws, how President Donald Trump is handling immigration and how Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has handled her job.
More polling underscores those findings.
A New York Times/Siena poll released Friday found 61% of voters saying the tactics used by ICE had “gone too far.” That included over 9 in 10 Democrats, about 7 in 10 independents and roughly 2 in 10 Republicans. Just 26% of voters overall said ICE’s tactics were “about right” and 11% said they had not gone far enough.
The poll also found roughly half of voters in support of Trump’s deportations and his handling of the border with Mexico.
Just 36% of voters approved of how ICE was handling its job; 63% disapproved.
A Wall Street Journal poll published last week found 54% saying deploying ICE to U.S. cities has “gone too far” and 52% of voters disapproving of how Trump is handling immigration.
Both polls were conducted after Good, a mother of three, was killed by an ICE agent on Jan. 7, but before Pretti, an ICU nurse, was killed by federal agents over the weekend.
The New York Times/Siena poll was conducted Jan. 12-17 among 1,625 registered voters nationwide and has a margin of error of +/- 2.8 percentage points.
The Wall Street Journal poll was conducted Jan. 8-13 among 1,500 registered voters nationwide and has a margin of error of +/- 2.5 percentage points.
Three minutes and two seconds before the first shot is fired, Alex Pretti holds a phone before a federal officer on Nicollet Ave in Minnesota. (Obtained by ABC News)
(WASHINGTON) — With just days until a partial government shutdown, the shootings in Minneapolis have left Senate Democrats and Republicans in a standoff over how to advance a package of bills necessary to fund the government.
Democrats have made their position clear: Republicans should agree to separate the bill that funds the Department of Homeland Security from a package that includes five other government funding bills so that changes to the DHS bill aimed at reining in Immigration and Customs Enforcement can be made without affecting the other agencies that still need to be funded.
There were Democratic calls to separate the DHS funding following the deaths of Renee Good, a mother of three who was fatally shot by an immigration enforcement officer in Minneapolis earlier this month, and became more urgent after the death of Alex Pretti, an ICU nurse, who was fatally shot by a federal agent over the weekend.
“The appalling murders of Renee Good and Alex Pretti on the streets of Minneapolis must lead Republicans to join Democrats in overhauling ICE and CBP to protect the public. People should be safe from abuse by their own government,” Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said in a statement Sunday night. “Senate Republicans must work with Democrats to advance the other five funding bills while we work to rewrite the DHS bill. This is best course of action, and the American people are on our side.”
But for now, Republicans have said they plan to push forward with the six-bill package, keeping DHS funding tied to the other funding bills.
“Government funding expires at the end of the week, and Republicans are determined to not have another government shutdown. We will move forward as planned and hope Democrats can find a path forward to join us,” a GOP aide told ABC News.
There will be a partial government shutdown — one that results in closures for only specific agencies where funding has lapsed — on Friday night going into Saturday morning if Congress does not approve of the remaining funding bills.
Advancing any government funding bills this week will require the support of at least seven Democrats. If the DHS bill is not decoupled form the other bills — which fund things such as the Departments of Defense, Transportation, Housing and Urban Development and more — it seems unlikely that Democrats will furnish the necessary votes to allow any of those bills to proceed.
A Democratic source confirms that Democrats have been in touch with the White House about funding in light of the Minneapolis shootings.
“Republicans and the White House have reached out, but have not yet raised any realistic solutions,” the Senate Democratic leadership aide told ABC News Monday morning.
The House is on recess for the entire week, making modifications to any of the bills ahead of the Friday deadline nearly impossible.
There are a number of agencies and programs that could be affected if Congress does not act by the deadline on Jan. 30. Air traffic controllers and military personnel could go without pay, and the IRS and USPS will also be affected.
The DHS bill that the House approved last week would keep funding for ICE roughly flat from the year prior through September 2026, although ICE is receiving separate funding from the already-passed “Big Beautiful Bill.” It also funds other agencies like the Transportation Security Administration and the Coast Guard.
If lawmakers do cause a shutdown of DHS, it won’t have an immediate impact on ICE operations.
Rep. Rosa DeLauro, the top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, warned in a statement last week that the “Homeland Security funding bill is more than just ICE.”
“If we allow a lapse in funding, TSA agents will be forced to work without pay, FEMA assistance could be delayed, and the U.S. Coast Guard will be adversely affected. All while ICE continues functioning without any change in their operations due to $75 billion it received in the One Big Beautiful Bill. A continuing resolution will jettison the guardrails we have secured while ceding authority to President Trump, Stephen Miller, and Secretary Noem.”
White House Border Czar Tom Homan speaks to reporters outside the West Wing of the White House on January 14, 2026 in Washington, DC. Alex Wong/Getty Images
(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump announced Monday that he is dispatching his border czar, Tom Homan, to Minnesota amid outrage over the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti by a federal agent.
“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 in a social media post.
Trump, in another social media post, wrote Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, a Democrat, called him to “request to work together with respect to Minnesota. It was a very good call, and we, actually, seemed to be on a similar wavelength.”
Trump said that he would have Homan call Walz and that Walz was “happy” that Homan was going to Minnesota.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, who will hold a press briefing on Monday afternoon, said Homan “will be managing ICE Operations on the ground in Minnesota to continue arresting the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens.”
The development comes after Trump, in an interview with the Wall Street Journal on Sunday, notably declined to say whether he thought the agent who killed Pretti acted appropriately.
“We’re looking, we’re reviewing everything and will come out with a determination,” Trump told the WSJ.
By putting Homan in charge of ICE operations in Minneapolis, Trump is bypassing the normal chain of command — where Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Border Patrol Commander Greg Bovino have been overseeing ICE operations. Trump said Homan would be reporting directly to him.
Trump’s less definitive comments on the shooting were in sharp contrast with those of Noem, Bovino and FBI Director Kash Patel, who have defended the agents’ actions.
Trump administration officials said Pretti “brandished” a gun and multiple magazines with the intent to inflict harm on officers — a “massacre” Bovino claimed. Noem and others have labeled Pretti a “domestic terrorist” without citing any evidence.
State and local officials said Pretti was lawfully carrying a gun, with a concealed carry permit, and video reviewed and verified by ABC News does not appear to show that Pretti drew his gun on the agents and was holding up a cell phone — not a gun — to record agents during the incident.
Trump, like Noem, Bovino and Patel, criticized Pretti for carrying a weapon at a protest.
“I don’t like any shooting. I don’t like it,” Trump told the WSJ. “But I don’t like it when somebody goes into a protest and he’s got a very powerful, fully loaded gun with two magazines loaded up with bullets also. That doesn’t play good either.”
The administration is facing criticism from both Democrats and some Republicans for blaming the victim of the shooting, with some Republican lawmakers calling for an independent investigation into what happened. Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy said the credibility of ICE and DHS was “at stake” and there “must be a full joint federal and state investigation.” Moderate Democratic Sen. Jackie Rosen has called for Noem’s impeachment. ABC News has reached out to DHS and the White House for comment on impeachment calls against Noem.
The National Rifle Association issued a rare statement saying “responsible public voices should be awaiting a full investigation, not making generalizations and demonizing law-abiding citizens.”
Noem, responding to Trump’s announcement that Homan will soon be in Minnesota, said it was “good news for peace, safety, and accountability in Minneapolis.”
“I have worked closely with Tom over the last year and he has been a major asset to our team — his experience and insight will help us in our wide-scale fraud investigations, which have robbed Americans, and will help us to remove even more public safety threats and violent criminal illegal aliens off the of streets of Minneapolis. We continue to call on the leadership in Minnesota to allow for state and local partnership in our public safety mission,” Noem posted on X.
Noem will “continue to lead the Department of Homeland Security with the full trust and confidence of the President,” according to a White House official.
“Tom Homan is uniquely positioned to drop everything and focus solely on Minnesota to solve the problems that have been created by a lack of cooperation from state and local officials,” the White House official added.
Trump, in his interview with the WSJ, also notably suggested the possibility of pulling federal agents out of Minnesota.
“At some point we will leave,” Trump said, though he didn’t provide a specific timeline. “We’ve done, they’ve done a phenomenal job.”
Pennsylvania governor Josh Shapiro appears on Good Morning America, Jan. 26, 2026. ABC News
(NEW YORK) — Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro on Monday called for the Trump administration to terminate its immigration enforcement operation in Minneapolis, following the killing of Alex Pretti by federal agents.
“A fundamental responsibility for government is to keep people safe, and part of the way you keep people safe is by building trust between law enforcement and the community,” Shapiro said in an interview on “Good Morning America.”
“What Donald Trump and the federal government are doing is eroding that trust, is making people less safe, and it is time to terminate this mission,” he said.
The Pennsylvania Democrat called for an independent investigation into the killings of Pretti and Rene Good to be led by the state of Minnesota.
Some Republicans have called for a thorough investigation of Pretti’s killing, after videos of his killing raised questions about Trump administration officials’ initial characterizations of the incident.
“This mission in Minnesota is compromised. It’s been directed by Donald Trump and [Vice President] JD Vance and [Homeland Security Secretary] Kristi Noem in a way to wreak havoc on a community, in a way that is very clearly violating people’s constitutional rights each and every day, and has led to two tragic killings in the streets of people who were not a threat, I believe, to law enforcement,” Shapiro said.
Americans cannot bring a loaded firearm to protests, according to FBI Director Kash Patel.
“You cannot bring a firearm loaded with multiple magazines to any sort of protest that you want,” the FBI Director said after being asked by Fox host Maria Bartiromo about his message to those who are outraged about the shooting. “It’s that simple. You don’t have that right to break the law and incite violence.”
Asked if he endorses calls by a growing number of Democrats to refuse to fund the Department of Homeland Security this week — and risk a partial government shutdown — Shapiro endorsed the position of Nevada Democratic Sen. Katherine Cortez Masto, who called for the Senate to fund the rest of the government while pushing for changes to DHS in the wake of the shootings in Minneapolis.
Noem has defended the agents’ actions in Minneapolis.
“This individual went and impeded their law enforcement operations, attacked those officers, had a weapon on him and multiple, dozens of rounds of ammunition, wishing to inflict harm on these officers, coming, brandishing like that, and impeding their work that they were doing,” Noem said this weekend.
Border Patrol Cmdr. Greg Bovino also defended the actions of agents amid the protests.
“I believe the fantastic training that our law enforcement partners have, the fact that they’re highly trained, prevented any specific shootings of law enforcement,” Bovino told CNN this weekend. “So good job for our law enforcement in taking him down before he was able to do that.”
“The challenge here … is the direction that these federal agents are receiving, the direction that’s coming all the way from the top, from Trump and Vance and Noem, that is compromised,” Shapiro said on Monday. “I would not continue funding this and giving the president a blank check to wreak havoc and undermine people’s constitutional rights.”
In his memoir out Tuesday, “Where We Keep the Light: Stories from a Life of Service,” Shapiro reflects on his life in public office and grapples with the 2025 arson attack on his home.
“One of the core principles you enunciate in your book is that we have more that unites us than divides us. You see what’s happening in Minneapolis. You see what’s happening in the streets of our country. And does it challenge your thesis?” ABC’s George Stephanopoulos asked Shapiro on Monday.
“I would hope that even in these serious moments, even in these moments where I know we are consumed by this darkness, particularly coming out of Minneapolis right now, let’s not forget that there are people in the world doing good, bringing light each day,” Shapiro said.
Shapiro said politicians need to “speak and act with moral clarity.”
“Part of the point of my book is to encourage more politicians, particularly those who enable this president on a daily basis, to take their cues, not from the division that exists, you know, in our society, and sort of pushed even more so by social media, but instead, take their cues from good people who are doing good things in our communities each and every day, and that’s where I find the light,” he said.
Alleged scammers charged with planting a malware in ATM’s around the country. (DOJ)
(WASHINGTON) — The Justice Department announced Monday it has charged 31 more individuals in a scheme that allegedly stole millions from ATMs in the United States.
Many of those charged are allegedly members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, according to the Justice Department. More than 50 people have been charged in the case so far.
Court documents filed in Nebraska allege that members of the group scammed ATMs by deploying a malware known as Ploutus. Members of the conspiracy allegedly recruited members of Tren de Arauga to deploy the malware in ATMs around the country.
Groups would first see if there was a law enforcement response when an ATM was tampered with and then deploy the malware through a thumb drive in a scheme that federal authorities call “jackpotting,” according to the Justice Department.
The malware would issue unauthorized commands to the system and force withdrawals of cash, according to the Justice Department.
“A large ring of criminal aliens allegedly engaged in a nationwide conspiracy to enrich themselves and the TdA terrorist organization by ripping off American citizens. After committing bank robbery, fraud, and other serious crimes, they will be vigorously prosecuted and held accountable for their crimes,” Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said. “The Justice Department’s Joint Task Force Vulcan will not stop until it completely dismantles and destroys TdA and other foreign terrorists that import chaos to America.”
The case was made by the Homeland Security Task Force in coordination with state and local authorities around the country.
Three minutes and two seconds before the first shot is fired, Alex Pretti holds a phone before a federal officer on Nicollet Ave in Minnesota. Obtained by (ABC News)
(MINNEAPOLIS) — The interaction that ended in the death of Alex Pretti in Minneapolis on Saturday morning began at least three minutes earlier when Pretti appeared to be using his phone to record CBP officers, according to videos reviewed and verified by ABC News.
Minutes later, Pretti was pinned on the street by multiple federal agents — visibly being hit by one of them — when one of the officers can be seen leaving the struggle with what appears to be a gun.
Those videos appear to contradict, at least in part, claims by federal officials that Pretti “approached U.S. Border Patrol officers with a 9mm semi-automatic handgun” and “attacked” officers carrying out immigration duties.
During a news conference Saturday, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said Pretti “arrived at the scene to inflict maximum damage on individuals and to kill law enforcement.”
Videos verified by ABC News show that Pretti appeared to be using his phone to record the agents before he was shoved by a federal officer. Seconds later, a federal officer repeatedly pepper-sprayed Pretti and then appeared to pull him into the street.
While Pretti seems to have been pinned on the street by officers, one of the agents is seen in multiple verified videos emerging from the scrum with a handgun that appears to match the weapon federal officials say Pretti was carrying. Before the first shot is fired, another agent can be seen drawing his own handgun, while another repeatedly hits Pretti.
In total, 10 shots were fired in less than five seconds, according to a forensic audio analysis of the videos. Pretti was declared dead on the scene.
“What the videos depict is that this guy did not walk up to anybody from CBP in a threatening manner,” said former acting DHS undersecretary for intelligence John Cohen, a police trainer and ABC News contributor. “For [DHS] to construe that he arrived at that location with the intent to shoot those border patrol officers, there’s nothing in the video evidence that we’ve seen thus far that would support that.”
This is a timeline based on five different verified videos of the incident.
8:58:11 a.m. — Three minutes and two seconds before the first shot is fired, Alex Pretti holds a phone before a federal officer on Nicollet Ave. in Minnesota, in what appears to be an apparent attempt to record a nearby detention by immigration authorities.
8:58:22 a.m.— A second federal officer carrying a canister of pepper spray approaches Pretti, who continues to hold up his phone.
8:58:29 a.m. — One federal officer appears to push Pretti towards the sidewalk.
8:59:08 a.m. — Another eyewitness begins recording the incident, showing Pretti continuing to lift his phone towards officers, as they appear to detain someone in the street.
8:59:24 a.m.— Pretti is seen lifting a phone towards the officers as they move a detainee into a nearby vehicle.
9:00:12 a.m. — Pretti continues to lift his phone towards nearby federal officers as they interact with two unidentified individuals, one with an orange backpack and another in a parka.
9:00:21 a.m. — The two individuals, who were later pepper-sprayed alongside Pretti, speak with a federal agent. Several people honk and whistle. “Watch out for that car,” the officer says as a car passes the group.
9:00:41 a.m. — Three different cameras capture the next interaction. The officer shouts at one of the civilians, “Do not push them into traffic,” and pushes them towards Pretti. Pretti continues to raise his phone towards the officers.
9:00:44 a.m. — The individual who was pushed appears to hold onto Pretti as the federal officer approaches them.
9:00:45 a.m. — The federal officer appears to push Pretti.
9:00:47 a.m. — The officer is seen pushing the individual with the orange backpack.
9:00:50 a.m. — The officer uses pepper spray on Pretti, and Pretti appears to raise his hand towards the officer to get between the officer and the person with the backpack, but the officer immediately pepper-sprays him. According to ABC News contributor and former acting DHS undersecretary Cohen, it appears Pretti used his hand in an attempt to signal that he was not a threat to officers.
9:00:53 a.m. — The officer pepper-sprays the other two civilians again.
9:00:54 a.m.— After being sprayed, Pretti appears to fall into the person with the backpack and possibly grab that person to stabilize himself.
9:00:56 a.m. — The federal officer appears to pull Pretti into the street, appearing to tug him by the hood of his coat.
9:01:02 a.m.— Three officers hold down Pretti, while another group of officers surrounds Pretti. According to ABC News contributor and former acting DHS undersecretary Cohen, the officers do not appear to be following the tactical steps to control and arrest Pretti. “This just seemed to be a free-for-all, and they didn’t seem to have any understanding from a tactical perspective on how to gain control of that individual,” he said.
9:01:05 a.m. — A nearby woman can be heard screaming, “That is police brutality. They are hitting an observer. They’re kicking them in the face.” At one point, at least five officers are on top of Pretti, pinning him down.
9:04:11 a.m. — One of the agents appears to hit Pretti, swinging his hand to repeatedly punch Pretti.
9:01:12 a.m. — One of the officers appears to draw a handgun.
9:01:13 a.m.— One of the federal officers appears to remove a gun from Pretti’s waist that seems to match the handgun federal officials said he was carrying.
9:01:14 a.m. — Another video shows the officer in the grey jacket emerging from the scrum, holding a firearm that appears to match Pretti’s weapon. The video of the officer entering the scrum did not show the agent carrying a weapon. Three cameras capture the moment.
9:01:14 a.m. — First shot is fired. At least one officer immediately steps away from Pretti.
9:01:16 a.m. — One second after the first shot, three additional shots are fired. Pretti appears to go limp and fall to the ground.
9:01:19 a.m.— Within three seconds, six more shots are fired. The six agents have stepped back from Pretti’s body.
9:01:45 a.m. — Twenty-nine seconds after the first shot, an officer approaches Pretti. According to a sworn affidavit from a doctor who says they treated Pretti at the scene, Pretti had at least three bullet wounds in his back, an additional wound on his upper chest, and another possible wound on his neck.
09:02:28 a.m. — Seventy-four seconds after the first shot is fired, the officer in a grey jacket is heard saying, “I got the gun. I got the gun,” and walks towards the officers surrounding Pretti.
An analysis conducted by Robert Maher, a professor at Montana State University specializing in audio forensics, concluded that 10 shots were fired in less than 5 seconds.
U.S. Vice President JD Vance gives remarks following a roundtable discussion with local leaders and community members amid a surge of federal immigration authorities in the area, at Royalston Square on January 22, 2026, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Trump administration has sent a reported 3,000-plus federal agents into the area, with more on the way, as they make a push to arrest undocumented immigrants in the region. (Photo by Brandon Bell/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — Vice President JD Vance took the stage for a second year in a row on Friday at the March For Life rally in Washington, D.C., where he touted the work done by the Trump administration to support the anti-abortion rights movement — but Vance also responded to criticism from some in the pro-life movement that the White House has not done enough so far to advance its agenda.
“Now I must address an elephant in the room. I’ve heard the guy over here talking about it, a fear, a fear that some of you have, that not enough progress has been made, that not enough has happened in the political arena, that we’re not going fast enough, that our politics have failed to answer the clarion call to life that this march represents and that all of us, I believe, hold in our hearts,” Vance said. “And I want you to know that I hear you, and that I understand there will inevitably be debates within this movement.”
Vance asked attendees to reflect on what has been accomplished over the past decade, adding that more actions will be taken in the coming years.
“My friends, I’d ask you to look where the Fight for Life stood just one decade ago and now look where it stands today. We have made tremendous strides over the last year, and we’re going to continue to make strides over the next three years to come. But I’m a realist. I know that there is still much road ahead to travel together,” Vance said.
Vance referenced Trump’s appointment of the three Supreme Court justices who helped overrule Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court decision that stated that the Constitution protected the right to an abortion. Vance said that Trump’s actions led to the “most important” Supreme Court decision of his lifetime.
Vance touted some of the actions the Trump administration has taken on restricting abortion access and supporting the anti-abortion rights movement, including pardoning 23 anti-abortion rights activists about a year ago.
Although Trump did not attend the rally on Friday, he did send in a brief video message where he said he has “made unprecedented strides to protect innocent life and support the institution of the family.” Trump also reflected on appointing the Supreme Court justices who helped overrule Roe v. Wade.
“That was a big deal, and because of that, the pro-life movement won the greatest victory in its history,” Trump said of the Supreme Court decision.
The White House also released a statement from Trump reiterating his contributions to the anti-abortion rights movement.
“From the moment I returned to office as the 47th President of the United States, I have taken decisive action to protect the unborn and restore a culture that unapologetically defends the sanctity of life,” Trump said in his statement.
U.S. Vice President JD Vance gives remarks following a roundtable discussion with local leaders and community members amid a surge of federal immigration authorities in the area, at Royalston Square on January 22, 2026, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Trump administration has sent a reported 3,000-plus federal agents into the area, with more on the way, as they make a push to arrest undocumented immigrants in the region. (Photo by Brandon Bell/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — Vice President JD Vance took the stage for a second year in a row on Friday at the March For Life rally in Washington, D.C., where he touted the work done by the Trump administration to support the anti-abortion rights movement — but Vance also responded to criticism from some in the pro-life movement that the White House has not done enough so far to advance its agenda.
“Now I must address an elephant in the room. I’ve heard the guy over here talking about it, a fear, a fear that some of you have, that not enough progress has been made, that not enough has happened in the political arena, that we’re not going fast enough, that our politics have failed to answer the clarion call to life that this march represents and that all of us, I believe, hold in our hearts,” Vance said. “And I want you to know that I hear you, and that I understand there will inevitably be debates within this movement.”
Vance asked attendees to reflect on what has been accomplished over the past decade, adding that more actions will be taken in the coming years.
“My friends, I’d ask you to look where the Fight for Life stood just one decade ago and now look where it stands today. We have made tremendous strides over the last year, and we’re going to continue to make strides over the next three years to come. But I’m a realist. I know that there is still much road ahead to travel together,” Vance said.
Vance referenced Trump’s appointment of the three Supreme Court justices who helped overrule Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court decision that stated that the Constitution protected the right to an abortion. Vance said that Trump’s actions led to the “most important” Supreme Court decision of his lifetime.
Vance touted some of the actions the Trump administration has taken on restricting abortion access and supporting the anti-abortion rights movement, including pardoning 23 anti-abortion rights activists about a year ago.
Although Trump did not attend the rally on Friday, he did send in a brief video message where he said he has “made unprecedented strides to protect innocent life and support the institution of the family.” Trump also reflected on appointing the Supreme Court justices who helped overrule Roe v. Wade.
“That was a big deal, and because of that, the pro-life movement won the greatest victory in its history,” Trump said of the Supreme Court decision.
The White House also released a statement from Trump reiterating his contributions to the anti-abortion rights movement.
“From the moment I returned to office as the 47th President of the United States, I have taken decisive action to protect the unborn and restore a culture that unapologetically defends the sanctity of life,” Trump said in his statement.
Mark Carney, Canada’s prime minister, after speaking in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada, on Thursday, Jan. 22, 2026. (Renaud Philippe/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump rescinded an invitation for Canada to join his newly-formed “Board of Peace” amid his escalating feud with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney.
The move, which Trump announced late Thursday in a social media post, came after Carney’s headline-making speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, in which he warned the rules-based international order largely steered by American hegemony was in the midst of a “rupture.”
“Please let this Letter serve to represent that the Board of Peace is withdrawing its invitation to you regarding Canada’s joining, what will be, the most prestigious Board of Leaders ever assembled, at any time,” Trump posted online as he returned to Washington from Switzerland.
Trump hosted a signing ceremony for his Board of Peace on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum earlier this week. More than two dozen countries have signed on so far, including Israel, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, though notably none of the U.S.’s major European allies have done so. France, Norway, Sweden and the United Kingdom have either declined the invitation or expressed significant reservations about the board. The Vatican said Pope Leo, the first American pope, has been asked to join the board and is evaluating the invitation.
Carney, in his address to the gathering of government officials and business leaders, called on middle powers to come together to avoid falling victim to coercion from larger and more powerful nations.
“Middle powers must act together because if we’re not at the table, we’re on the menu,” Carney said.
Carney added, “We shouldn’t allow the rise of hard power to blind us to the fact that the power of legitimacy, integrity and rules will remain strong, if we choose to wield them together.”
The Canadian leader, without explicitly mentioning Trump by name, also directly criticized the U.S. threat of tariffs for U.S. allies that opposed Trump’s aim to acquire Greenland and made clear Canada’s support for the Danish territory’s sovereignty.
President Trump, the next day, swiped at Carney’s remarks and said the U.S.’s northern neighbor should be “grateful.”
“Canada gets a lot of freebies from us. By the way, they should be grateful also, but they’re not. I watched your prime minister yesterday. He wasn’t so grateful. They should be grateful to us, Canada. Canada lives because of the United States. Remember that, Mark, the next time you make your statements,” Trump said in his WEF speech.
Carney pushed back on Trump in remarks delivered in Quebec City on Thursday.
“Canada and the United States have built a remarkable partnership in the economy, in security, and in rich cultural exchange,” Carney said. “But Canada doesn’t live because of the United States. Canada thrives because we are Canadian.”
Tensions have flared between Trump and Carney for months over tariffs and over Trump’s repeated calls since his return to office to have Canada become the 51st state of the U.S.
An excavator works to clear rubble after the East Wing of the White House was demolished, Oct. 23, 2025. (Eric Lee/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — The federal judge presiding over a challenge to the White House ballroom project signaled deep skepticism of the Trump administration’s argument that the president has the legal authority to undertake the East Wing renovations and to fund them with private donations.
In a hearing on Thursday, U.S. District Court Judge Richard Leon pressed an administration lawyer on both of those issues — as he questioned whether the president has the power to tear down part of what he called “an icon that’s a national institution,” and described the intent to fund it with private gifts as a “Rube Goldberg contraption” that would evade congressional oversight.
The National Trust for Historic Preservation filed a lawsuit last month seeking to stop the ballroom construction until the project completes the federal review process standard for federal building projects and the administration seeks public comment on the proposed changes.
The National Trust, the privately funded nonprofit designated by Congress to protect historic sites, was seeking a preliminary injunction.
At the end of the hour-long hearing Thursday, Judge Leon said he will likely not issue a decision this month, but “hopefully” in February. He said he expects the losing side to appeal.
In a statement provided to ABC News, White House spokesman Davis Ingle said: “President Trump is working 24/7 to Make America Great Again, including his historic beautification of the White House, at no taxpayer expense. These long-needed upgrades will benefit generations of future presidents and American visitors to the People’s House.”
The size and cost of the project have increased since first being unveiled. In November, Trump said the project would cost $400 million, after an initial estimate of $200 million. The White House has said the project will be funded by private donations.
Judge Leon, a George W. Bush appointee, said the Trump administration appears to be making an “end run” around congressional oversight with the president’s plan to privately raise $400 million for the ballroom project, and he admonished the Justice Department’s lawyer to “be serious” in justifying a legal rationale for it.
While the case presents a series of complicated and overlapping legal issues, the judge spent much of the hearing focused on just two federal statutes — one, which says that no “building or structure” can be built on any federal public grounds in the District of Columbia “without express authority of Congress,” and another that calls for yearly appropriations for the “maintenance, repair, alteration, refurnishing [and] improvement” of the White House.
Leon noted that Republicans control both houses of Congress, and that the president could have gone to lawmakers to seek approval for the demolition and rebuild. He also suggested the $2.5 million Congress recently appropriated for White House maintenance was for “very small-size projects,” not a ballroom.
Justice Department lawyer Yaakov Roth responded that Trump didn’t want $400 million in taxpayer money to be used for the project, when he could solicit gifts to the National Park Service to fund it instead. Roth also noted that Congress was never asked in Gerald Ford’s era to approve the building of a swimming pool, or a tennis pavilion during Trump’s first term.
“[Your argument for using NPS’s gift authority] on an icon that’s a national treasure is, what? The ’77 Gerald Ford swimming pool?” Leon asked. “You compare that to ripping down the East Wing? C’mon! Be serious.”
Leon said he saw “no basis” in the legislative history of the park service’s gift authority that would allow Trump to use it to raise $400 million to build a new White House ballroom. “None,” Leon said. “Zero.”
Arguing for the National Trust, attorney Tad Heuer described the president as a “temporary tenant of the White House, not the landlord.” Leon suggested “steward” might be a more fitting term.
“He is not the owner,” Heuer said.
As Roth took the podium to begin his argument on behalf of the administration, he attempted to convince the judge that the National Trust has no standing to sue. Leon abruptly cut him off.
“I’m very comfortable with standing in this case,” Leon said. “Sorry to disappoint you. You’ll get your chance at the Court of Appeals.”
Roth warned the judge that an order halting construction at this stage could expose the existing White House structure to damage and potentially lead to security concerns, since it’s widely believed that a replacement for a previously-existing underground bunker is part of the project. The National Trust has said it would not object to continued construction on the security portion of the work.
“It can’t be divided out that way,” Roth said of the security-related construction, “unless we want the court to be the project manager on site.”
Leon declined to issue an order from the bench. He said the coming winter storm made it unlikely he would issue a ruling on the National Trust’s motion for a preliminary injunction before the end of this month.
ABC News’ Michelle Stoddard contributed to this report.
Editor’s Note: An earlier version of this story misidentified an attorney for the National Trust for Historic Preservation. The story has been corrected and updated.
