Trump Escalates Deportations in Democratic Cities - and Mocks Minnesota Governor After Assassination

It was a double blow that shook the political landscape of the United States over the weekend: While President Donald Trump on Sunday evening directed the immigration agency ICE to carry out mass deportations specifically in Democratic-run cities, he commented cynically on the murder of Representative Melissa Hortman and the attack on her colleague John Hoffman. Tim Walz, the Democratic Governor of Minnesota, received no solidarity from Trump - but an insult.

Los Angeles, Chicago, New York - places where millions of migrants live - are now the focus of ICE efforts, as Trump announced on Truth Social. The goal, he said, was "the single largest Mass Deportation Program in History." Just hours earlier, peaceful protests under the "No Kings" movement had been forcibly dispersed in several cities. In Los Angeles, police deployed tear gas and rubber bullets against demonstrators, while the president staged a military parade on the National Mall in Washington to mark the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Army. For Trump, one thing was clear: The National Guard had saved Los Angeles from "collapse."

What sounds like an authoritarian administrative act is in truth an ideologically motivated instrument: Cities that defy Trump's agenda are to be forced into cooperation through fear and repression. At the same time, Trump specifically relieved economic sectors that rely on undocumented labor. Farms, hotels, restaurants - all industries dependent on cheap migrant labor are to be exempt from ICE raids for now. Tatum King, a senior ICE official, instructed his regional directors in an internal memo on Thursday to immediately halt ongoing investigations against businesses in these sectors. The reason: complaints from industry. Trump himself admitted the same day on Truth Social that his "very aggressive policy" was causing unrest in the economy - and promised adjustments.

Parallel to the escalation of these measures, Trump commented on Sunday to ABC News regarding the deadly shootings of lawmakers in Minnesota - or rather, he commented dismissively. Asked whether he would call Democratic Governor Tim Walz in light of the attack, Trump said: "I may call him. I may call others too. I think he's a terrible governor. A grossly incompetent person." Outrage in Minnesota was swift. Walz had condemned the act on Saturday as a "targeted political assassination." The murdered Representative Melissa Hortman was a longtime Speaker of the Minnesota House. Her husband Mark died with her. Senator John Hoffman and his wife Yvette survived the attack with serious injuries. The alleged perpetrator: Vance Boelter, 57, who police say posed as a police officer and arrived at the victims' homes in a fake emergency vehicle. Inside his car: a list of dozens of Democratic targets - including Ilhan Omar, Tina Smith, Keith Ellison, and Tim Walz himself.

Although Trump publicly condemned the act as "horrific" - genuine empathy was absent. While former President Joe Biden called Governor Walz immediately, Trump kept him waiting. Instead, he used the moment for another show of power: against migrants, against political opponents, against an America that still resists his second term. The deployment of ICE becomes a political tool. His words toward Walz become a rhetorical weapon. And the nation? It wavers between reckoning and exhaustion.