Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem met with President Trump on Monday, sources told ABC News, amid fallout the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti in Minneapolis.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem met with President Donald Trump in the Oval Office on Monday, two sources , as the administration faces fallout over federal agent operations in Minnesota and the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti.
Noem’s top adviser, Corey Lewandowski, White House chief of staff Susie Wiles, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt and White House communications director Steven Cheung were also present, according to sources.
White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller, who had called Pretti a „domestic terrorist“ without evidence, was not at the meeting, sources said.
Sources said the meeting lasted about two hours and came at the request of Noem. The White House declined to comment.
The New York Times was the first to report on the meeting.
Much of the scrutiny inside the administration has been directed toward Noem over her initial response to the killing of Pretti, sources said. After Pretti was killed Saturday, Noem — like Miller — was quick to call him a „domestic terrorist“ without evidence.
Asked by ABC News Chief White House Correspondent Mary Bruce if the president agreed with that characterization, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt distanced the president from those comments.
„Look, as I’ve said, I have not heard the president characterize Mr. Pretti in that way“, Leavitt said during the White House press briefing on Monday.
