\u201cThis frees up more officers to arrest or remove criminal aliens, more officers taking custody of criminal aliens directly from the jails, means less officers on the street doing criminal operations,\u201d Homan said.<\/p>\n
Notably, Homan has not confirmed which sheriffs have agreed to this increased coordination with federal immigration enforcement.<\/p>\n
A reminder, the Minnesota Department of Corrections<\/a> (DOC) already facilitate transfers of people who have completed felony sentences in state prisons, when federal agents are present to take custody. But DOC does not operate county jails \u2013 where most immigration encounters occur \u2013 and many sheriffs across the state choose not to work with ICE.<\/p>\n In Minneapolis, for example, Hennepin County does not notify federal immigration authorities when undocumented immigrants are booked or arrested, and is barred under state law from honoring requests to hold someone past their release time so immigration officers can take custody \u2013 known as ICE detainers.<\/p>\n Homan, however, said that he was \u201cnot requiring jails to hold people past their normal release time for immigration purposes\u201d while addressing reporters today.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Key events<\/p>\n Show key events only<\/p>\n Please turn on JavaScript to use this feature<\/p>\n Trump touts ‘extremely good’ relationship with Xi Jinping following ‘excellent’ phone call<\/p>\n Donald Trump touted his \u201cextremely good\u201d relationship with Xi Jinping of China, after an \u201cexcellent\u201d phone call today.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was a long and thorough call, where many important subjects were discussed,\u201d Trump wrote<\/a> in a post on Truth Social, before rattling off several topics from trade to the his upcoming trip to China in April.<\/p>\n Trump also noted that the pair discussed \u201clifting the Soybean count to 20 Million Tons for the current season\u201d, after China significantly reduced their purchases of the crop last year.<\/p>\n \u201cThe relationship with China, and my personal relationship with President Xi, is an extremely good one, and we both realize how important it is to keep it that way. I believe that there will be many positive results achieved over the next three years of my Presidency,\u201d Trump added.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a011.28 EST<\/p>\n As my colleague Pjotr Sauer<\/a> reports, Ukrainian and Russian negotiators kicked off a second round of US-led peace talks in Abu Dhabi, in an attempt to end the nearly four-year war in Ukraine<\/a>.<\/p>\n The two-day trilateral talks starting on Wednesday come after Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Russia of exploiting a US-backed energy truce last week to stockpile weapons<\/a> before launching a record number of ballistic missile attacks at Ukraine on Tuesday.<\/p>\n \u201cTaking advantage of the coldest days of winter to terrorise people is more important to Russia than turning to diplomacy,\u201d Zelenskyy wrote after the attacks, urging western governments to denounce the strikes.<\/p>\n Donald Trump said later on Tuesday that Vladimir Putin had \u201ckept his word\u201d on the ceasefire, adding that Russia\u2019s pause in attacks was only meant to last until Sunday.<\/p>\n US special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, Trump\u2019s son-in-law, have travelled to Abu Dhabi for the negotiations.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a011.22 EST<\/p>\n When it comes to protests, Homan noted that 158 people have been arrested for \u201cassaulting, impeding, interfering\u201d with immigration officers in Minnesota.<\/p>\n Homan said he\u2019s had \u201cfrank, honest discussions\u201d with the state\u2019s governor, Tim Walz; Minneapolis\u2019s mayor, Jacob Frey; and the state attorney general, Keith Ellison, while noting they \u201cdon\u2019t agree on everything\u201d.<\/p>\n He urged them to \u201cask for calm in the community and to end the resistance, the impediment, the interference\u201d of federal law enforcement.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a011.27 EST<\/p>\n As I noted earlier, Homan was deployed to Minneapolis by Donald Trump<\/a> to replace senior border patrol official Gregory Bovino. Backlash to Bovino\u2019s handling of the immigration crackdown in the Twin Cities spread nationwide \u2013 with hundreds of protests in response to the use of deadly force by officers.<\/p>\n Today, Homan tried to mitigate any speculation about his takeover. \u201cI brought a different set of eyes on this. I\u2019ve done this for a long time,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m not going to sit and point fingers at anybody that they failed, because it was a great operation. We took a lot of public safety threats off the street.\u201d<\/p>\n Homan added: \u201cPresident Trump sent me here to help de-escalate. We\u2019re not walking away from our mission \u2026 This is smart law enforcement. Smart law enforcement makes us safer.\u201d<\/p>\n Homan speaks during a press conference at the Whipple Federal Building in Minneapolis, 4 February 2026. Photograph: Charly Triballeau\/AFP\/Getty ImagesShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a011.28 EST<\/p>\n Another note from today\u2019s press conference in Minneapolis, Homan said that all Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) officers in Minnesota will integrate with the ICE team on the ground to form \u201cone unified chain of command\u201d.<\/p>\n A reminder that ICE and CBP are separate agencies that fall under the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Experts note that CBP officers have a different remit, particularly when carrying out their roles for interior immigration enforcement. They are, by definition, carrying out less targeted operations that are normally focused on profiling people who have made illegal border crossings. ICE, however, generally homes in on specific people in a particular area.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Homan reiterated his threat that while those with criminal convictions are the target of the operation, any undocumented immigrant could be apprehended. \u201cJust because you prioritize public safety threats don\u2019t mean we forget about everybody else,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Homan says ‘around 2000’ immigration officers remain in Minnesota<\/p>\n Tom Homan said that \u201caround 2000\u201d immigration officers remain in Minnesota after today\u2019s most recent drawdown announcement.<\/p>\n He added that the pre-operation number was between 100 and 150 officers.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Homan elaborated on his ask of county jails. Namely, asking local officials to notify Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) when an undocumented immigrant who has been booked and arrested is released from jail. Homan said this would mean \u201cthe need for less law enforcement officers to do this work in a safer environment\u201d.<\/p>\n However, legal experts and immigrant rights advocates told the Guardian that if counties cooperate with ICE, it can erode trust between police and immigrant communities, and lead to fewer people reporting crimes.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Homan says administration is drawing down 700 immigration enforcement officers<\/p>\n Speaking to reporters today, Tom Homan said that the Trump administration<\/a> will draw down 700 immigration enforcement officers. He said this was as a result of increased coordination between county jails and federal officials.<\/p>\n \u201cThis frees up more officers to arrest or remove criminal aliens, more officers taking custody of criminal aliens directly from the jails, means less officers on the street doing criminal operations,\u201d Homan said.<\/p>\n Notably, Homan has not confirmed which sheriffs have agreed to this increased coordination with federal immigration enforcement.<\/p>\n A reminder, the Minnesota Department of Corrections<\/a> (DOC) already facilitate transfers of people who have completed felony sentences in state prisons, when federal agents are present to take custody. But DOC does not operate county jails \u2013 where most immigration encounters occur \u2013 and many sheriffs across the state choose not to work with ICE.<\/p>\n In Minneapolis, for example, Hennepin County does not notify federal immigration authorities when undocumented immigrants are booked or arrested, and is barred under state law from honoring requests to hold someone past their release time so immigration officers can take custody \u2013 known as ICE detainers.<\/p>\n Homan, however, said that he was \u201cnot requiring jails to hold people past their normal release time for immigration purposes\u201d while addressing reporters today.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Trump\u2019s \u2018border czar\u2019 to address reporters in Minneapolis<\/p>\n Tom Homan, the president\u2019s so-called \u201cborder czar\u201d is set to speak to reporters in Minneapolis shortly.<\/p>\n A reminder that Homan took over the immigration enforcement operation in Minnesota from senior border official Gregory Bovino, just days after the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti and the mounting backlash in the Twin Cities.<\/p>\n Last week, at his first press conference in Minneapolis, Homan appeared conciliatory when addressing the unspecified \u201cimprovements\u201d he would be making to the crackdown in Minnesota.<\/p>\n He also acknowledged the operation had not been \u201cperfect\u201d, but didn\u2019t actually mention Pretti or Renee Good \u2013 the 37-year-old mother also killed in Minneapolis by a federal immigration officer two weeks prior.<\/p>\n Homan also said that if local officials allowed federal officers into jails (to take custody of undocumented detainees) this could lead to a drawdown of immigration enforcement in Minnesota. On Tuesday, governor Tim Walz said that he remained firm with the \u201cborder czar\u201d in their recent conversations.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s my expectation that we will see a dramatic shift in where this is at, for the better,\u201d Walz told reporters.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Donald Trump is in Washington today. Per his official schedule, he has no events that are currently open to the press.<\/p>\n He\u2019ll film an interview with NBC News at 11am ET, and have a policy meeting later. First lady Melania Trump will meet with freed American-Israeli hostage Keith Siegel at the White House this afternoon.<\/p>\n We\u2019ll bring you the latest lines as they happen.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Dharna Noor<\/p>\n Donald Trump\u2019s aggressive rollback of environmental protections directly contradicts the promises of his \u201cmake America healthy again\u201d campaign, according to new research.<\/p>\n Helmed by Robert F Kennedy Jr, Trump\u2019s health and human services department has touted pledges to \u201ctransform our nation\u2019s food, fitness, air, water, soil and medicine\u201d and \u201creverse the childhood chronic disease crisis\u201d. But the president\u2019s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is pushing the country in the opposite direction, says the new report from the liberal research and advocacy non-profit Center for American Progress (CAP).<\/p>\n An EPA spokesperson called the CAP report \u201cfake news\u201d, saying that EPA is in \u201clock-step\u201d with Maha and the entire Trump administration<\/a>.<\/p>\n Under administrator Lee Zeldin, EPA is dismantling dozens of environmental regulations, weakening efforts to limit pollution and has exempted facilities from clean air regulations. These actions will make children more vulnerable to many of the same chronic diseases the Make America Healthy Again (Maha) agenda says it wants to eradicate, including cancers, heart diseases, diabetes, obesity, autism and attention deficit disorder, according to the new report.<\/p>\n \u201cThe administration is trying to pull the wool over Americans\u2019 eyes, claiming that they care about our health, that they care about kids\u2019 health, when in reality, they are moving so aggressively to eliminate dozens of safeguards,\u201d said Cathleen Kelly, a senior fellow at CAP and report co-author. \u201cIt\u2019s really been heartbreaking to watch.\u201d<\/p>\n The EPA spokesperson said the agency is delivering on its mandate to overturn \u201cwasteful\u201d policies \u201cwhile also protecting the environment and public health\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have banked environmental win after environmental win, and under president Trump and administrator Zeldin, children and families are safer and healthier than ever,\u201d the person said.<\/p>\n Share<\/a> The billionaire investor Ken Griffin has accused Donald Trump\u2019s administration of \u201cenriching\u201d its families, and criticised its interference in American businesses as \u201cdistasteful\u201d.<\/p>\n Griffin, who is the chief executive of the hedge fund Citadel and a large Republican donor, rebuked the Trump administration<\/a>, saying it \u201chas definitely made missteps in choosing decisions or courses that have been very, very enriching to the families of those in the administration\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cThat calls into question, is the public interest being served?\u201d he said at a conference on Tuesday in Florida hosted by the Wall Street Journal.<\/p>\n Griffin is one of the most vocal critics of Trump on Wall Street, although it is the first time he has commented on how the president\u2019s family appear to have made financial gain <\/a>from their proximity to the White House.<\/p>\n Trump\u2019s eldest sons, Don Jr and Eric, have benefited from the White House\u2019s crypto-friendly policies, and have secured a series of big business deals since their father\u2019s re-election. They have previously insisted there was a \u201chuge wall\u201d between their moneymaking and their father\u2019s position.<\/p>\n Griffin added that most chief executives he was friends with \u201cfind it incredibly distasteful\u201d when the \u201cUS government starts to engage in corporate America in a way that tastes of favouritism\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cMost CEOs just don\u2019t want to find themselves in the business of having to, in some sense, suck up to one administration after another to succeed in running their business,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Griffin is a longtime Republican donor, giving millions of dollars to conservative groups during the 2024 election cycle. He did not fund Trump\u2019s re-election campaign, but after Trump won, he gave $1m to the president\u2019s inaugural committee.<\/p>\n Share<\/a> The power to enforce immigration law rests with the federal government. But Trump<\/a> adviser, Stephen Miller, has a vision for states working in coordination with federal immigration<\/a> officials, and he\u2019s attempting to test it out in Tennessee<\/a>.<\/p>\n Earlier this month, the Knoxville News Sentinel reported that Miller had been meeting in Washington DC with Tennessee<\/a> speaker of the house, Cameron Sexton, to craft model legislation for states around the country.<\/p>\n A few weeks later, the speaker announced a suite of eight bills that would turn state and local police officers, judges, teachers, social workers and others into an auxiliary extension of the federal immigration system. It makes the presence of an undocumented person with a final deportation order a state crime in Tennessee. And it mandates that officials report the presence of undocumented persons to ICE, while criminalizing disclosure of information about immigration enforcement activities to the public.<\/p>\n \u201cThe president\u2019s behind us,\u201d said Knoxville-area representative and deputy speaker, Jason Zachary, on a video taken from a talk with a conservative group, describing Sexton\u2019s contact with Miller. \u201cThe president has promised his support on social media for us, and we are being told Tennessee will go first.\u201d<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Epstein messaged with former CIA director Bill Burns, files show<\/p>\n Aram Roston<\/p>\n A new tranche of documents related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein<\/a> revealed several communications with William J Burns, a career diplomat who would go on to become the central intelligence director under Joe Biden.<\/p>\n The documents describe the planning for meetings between Burns and Epstein, two of which occurred, and show Epstein texting with Burns and recommending that other people in his orbit meet with him. The meetings and correspondence occurred after Epstein had pleaded guilty to prostitution-related charges in Florida in 2008, including solicitation of prostitution with a minor under the age of 18.<\/p>\n A spokesperson for Burns told the Guardian that the two men had \u201cno relationship\u201d, and that Burns \u201cdid not know anything about him, other than that he was introduced as an expert in the financial services sector\u201d. The spokesperson said Burns \u201cdeeply regrets ever meeting with him\u201d. Burns has never been accused of any wrongdoing related to Epstein\u2019s crimes.<\/p>\n Burns has decades of diplomatic experience under both Republican and Democratic administrations. During his confirmation hearing to become CIA director in 2021, even Trump-partisan senator Lindsey Graham called him an \u201coutstanding choice\u201d.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a008.00 EST<\/p>\n Judge to hear arguments in Trump’s bid to erase hush-money conviction<\/p>\n A federal judge is set to hear arguments Wednesday after an appeals court directed him to take a fresh look at president Donald Trump\u2019s bid to erase his hush money conviction.<\/p>\n The 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals in November ordered US district judge Alvin K Hellerstein to reconsider his decision to keep the case in state court instead of moving it to federal court, where Trump can seek to have it thrown out on presidential immunity grounds, AP reported.<\/p>\n A three-judge panel ruled that Hellerstein erred by failing to consider \u201cimportant issues relevant\u201d to Trump\u2019s request to move the New York case to federal court. They said they \u201cexpress no view\u201d on how he should rule.<\/p>\n Trump, a Republican, is not expected to attend Wednesday\u2019s arguments in federal court in New York City, which were preceded by lengthy written submissions from Trump\u2019s lawyers and the Manhattan district attorney\u2019s office, which prosecuted the case and wants it to remain in state court.<\/p>\n Hellerstein, who was nominated by Democratic president Bill Clinton, has twice denied Trump\u2019s requests to move the case.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a008.00 EST<\/p>\n Democrats on Capitol Hill offered apologies and promises of accountability on Tuesday amid often harrowing testimony from people who had experienced violent encounters with federal agents engaged in Donald Trump<\/a>\u2019s immigration crackdown.<\/p>\n With Republicans conspicuously absent, the forum of senators and representatives heard from Luke and Brent Ganger, the brothers of Renee Good<\/a>, a 37-year-old mother of three, who was shot dead by an Immigration, Customs and Enforcement (ICE) officer in Minneapolis on 7 January as she tried to drive away from agents.<\/p>\n Luke Ganger said he and his brother were there \u201cto ask for you help\u201d and suggested the sense of loss his family felt had been deepened by subsequent events in Minneapolis, where a protester, Alex Pretti<\/a>, also aged 37, was shot dead by two border patrol agents on 24 January.<\/p>\n \u201cThe deep distress our family feels at Renee\u2019s loss in such a violent and unnecessary way is complicated by feelings of disbelief, distress and desperation,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cIn the last few weeks, our family took some consolation, thinking that perhaps Nee\u2019s death would bring about change in our country. It has not. The completely surreal scenes taking place are beyond explanation.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is not just a bad day or a rough week or isolated incidents. These encounters with federal agents are changing the community and changing many lives, including ours. I still don\u2019t know how to explain to my four-year-old what these agents are doing when we pass by.\u201d<\/p>\n His daughter, Ganger added, \u201cknows that her aunt died and that somebody caused it to happen\u201d.<\/p>\n Share<\/a> Democrats are launching an aggressive campaign to win back voters they lost, not to Donald Trump, but to the proverbial \u201ccouch<\/a>,\u201d as they look to regain support ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.<\/p>\n On Wednesday, the Democratic National Committee (DNC) rolled out a new initiative called Local Listeners with the goal of targeting over one million \u201cinfrequent\u201d voters in key battleground districts. Seeking to build on the party\u2019s string of off-year election victories, which extended into 2026 with an upset in Texas last weekend, the DNC is betting that early, localized outreach will be crucial in winning back these voters\u2019 trust \u2013 and their ballots \u2013 this time around.<\/p>\n \u201cIf we want to keep earning back the trust and support of voters, we have to listen to them,\u201d DNC chair Ken Martin said in a statement, shared in advance with the Guardian. \u201cThis program modernizes the way we are talking to and hearing from the voters that we need to win elections now and for years to come. The Democratic Party is done with waiting until the last minute to engage voters \u2013 these conversations need to happen early and often.\u201d<\/p>\n The program marks the DNC\u2019s most ambitious early voter outreach effort for a midterm cycle, according to the organization. More than 2,000 volunteers have already signed up to participate in what the groups says is a sign, of \u201crenewed grassroots energy\u201d for the party.<\/p>\n Volunteers will undergo a seven-week training program on how to better engage these voters, including sessions on \u201cactive listening\u201d and \u201chaving difficult conversations about politics\u201d.<\/p>\n The goal is to engage voters who cast ballots for Joe Biden in 2020 but sat out in 2024, with volunteers aiming to conduct at least 250,000 phone conversations and host more than 50 grassroots events in key congressional districts by the end of March.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Trump calls for Americans to ‘move on’ from Epstein files<\/p>\n Hello and welcome to the US politics<\/a> live blog.<\/p>\n President Donald Trump has made a fresh plea for Americans to move on from the Jeffrey Epstein<\/a> scandal, even as it left a prominent British politician facing a criminal probe.<\/p>\n Former British ambassador to Washington Peter Mandelson has resigned from the upper house of UK parliament amid allegations he passed market sensitive information to the late sex offender Epstein while in government.<\/p>\n The fallout from the latest release of millions of documents linked to Epstein continued in the US too, where former president Bill Clinton and his wife Hillary will testify in Congress later this month.<\/p>\n Trump insisted once again that he had been cleared by the latest trove of files as he faced renewed questions at the White House over the disgraced financier, AFP reported.<\/p>\n \u201cNothing came out about me other than it was a conspiracy against me, literally, by Epstein and other people. But I think it\u2019s time now for the country to maybe get on to something else like health care or something that people care about,\u201d Trump said.<\/p>\n Trump added that it was \u201cnot a Republican, it\u2019s a Democrat problem,\u201d in a bid to turn the issue back to the Clintons, and away from the mention in the files of allies including his commerce secretary Howard Lutnick and billionaire Elon Musk.<\/p>\n In other developments:<\/p>\n Donald Trump suggested on a conservative podcast released on Monday that Republican state officials \u201ctake over\u201d and \u201cnationalize\u201d elections in 15 states to protect the party from being voted out of office. Trump framed the issue as a means to prevent undocumented immigrants from voting. Claims that noncitizens are voting in numbers that can affect an election are a lie. But it raises concerns about potential efforts by the president to rig the November midterm elections.<\/p>\n A message from Donald Trump celebrating the 19th-century US invasion of its southern neighbour \u2013 and the subsequent loss of more than half its territory \u2013 has touched a historical nerve in Mexico, with some seeing it as a veiled threat of future incursions. Reacting to the US president\u2019s statement, which described the invasion as \u201ca legendary victory\u201d, Claudia Sheinbaum, Mexico\u2019s president, said during her morning news conference on Tuesday: \u201cWe must always defend our sovereignty.\u201d<\/p>\n Tulsi Gabbard, the director of national intelligence, is running her own review into the 2020 election with Donald Trump<\/a>\u2019s approval, working separately from a justice department investigation even as she joined an FBI raid of an election center in Georgia last week.<\/p>\n The US military<\/a> says it shot down an Iranian drone that \u201caggressively\u201d approached the Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier in the Arabian Sea. The Iranian Shahed-139 drone was flying toward the carrier \u201cwith unclear intent\u201d when an F-35 fighter jet shot it down, US Central Command said on Tuesday.<\/p>\n Donald Trump has announced that his administration is seeking $1bn in damages from Harvard University<\/a>, the latest step in a long-running battle with the university over allegations of antisemitism. In a Truth Social post late on Monday, Trump accused<\/a> the Ivy League school of being \u201cstrongly antisemitic\u201d, adding that Harvard president Alan Garber \u201chas done a terrible job of rectifying a very bad situation for his institution and, more importantly, America itself\u201d.<\/p>\n![\"Lauren](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Lauren_Almeida.png\")
Lauren Almeida<\/p>\n![\"George](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/George-Chidi.jpg\")
George Chidi<\/p>\n![\"Robert](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/tait.jpg\")
Robert Tait<\/p>\n![\"Lauren](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Lauren_Gambino.png\")
Lauren Gambino<\/p>\n