Trump backs down from Insurrection Act threat in Minneapolis
President Trump said Friday he wouldn’t use teh Insurrection Act right now to respond to unrest in Minneapolis but added that he would if necesary, calling the law “very powerful.” He had earlier threatened to invoke the act in a social media post to quash protests tied to the death of Renee Good, who was shot by an immigration enforcement agent after striking the agent with her vehicle. Trump also claimed the act has been used by roughly 48% of presidents and “a lot.” Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz urged the president to de-escalate and appealed for peaceful protest, while DHS and ICE pushed back at the governor’s rhetoric and called for cooperation to remove criminal undocumented immigrants.
Trump backs down from Insurrection Act threat in Minneapolis
President Donald Trump relented Friday on his threat to use the Insurrection Act in response to unrest in Minneapolis.
“I don’t think there’s any reason right now to use it, but if I needed it, I’d use it,” Trump said about the Insurrection Act while speaking to a gaggle of reporters as he left for Florida. “It’s very powerful.”
.@POTUS on the Insurrection Act: “If I needed it, I’d use it. It’s very powerful.” pic.twitter.com/6KLjkEhQqW
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) January 16, 2026
Trump also claimed the act has been used by 48% of presidents and that it’s been used “a lot.”
The president threatened on Thursday to invoke the old law to quell unrest in Minneapolis.
“If the corrupt politicians of Minnesota don’t obey the law and stop the professional agitators and insurrectionists from attacking the Patriots of I.C.E., who are only trying to do their job, I will institute the INSURRECTION ACT, which many Presidents have done before me, and quickly put an end to the travesty that is taking place in that once great State,” Trump wrote in a social media post.
Many residents of the city have protested the death of Renee Good at the hands of an immigration enforcement agent. Good struck an agent with her vehicle before being shot dead.
Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN) quickly asked Trump to turn down the political temperature after his initial threat.
“I am making a direct appeal to the President: Let’s turn the temperature down. Stop this campaign of retribution. This is not who we are. And an appeal to Minnesotans: I know this is scary. We can — we must — speak out loudly, urgently, but also peacefully. We cannot fan the flames of chaos. That’s what he wants,” Walz posted on X.
DHS and ICE responded by blaming the governor’s rhetoric for the violence.
“The buck stops with you, Governor. Tone down the hostile, inflammatory anti-ICE rhetoric,” ICE posted on X. “Work with ICE to remove criminal illegal aliens from MN streets.”
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