This week, President Donald Trump delivered remarks that sharply conflicted with his long history of defending the Second Amendment.
Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Trump said Alex Pretti, the man fatally shot by Border Patrol agents in Minneapolis over the weekend, should not have been carrying a firearm.
“You can’t have guns. You can’t walk in with guns,” Trump said before leaving the White House for Iowa. He later described the killing as “very unfortunate.”
Trump’s comments were a clear break from his usual support for gun rights. Pretti, a 37 year old U.S. citizen, was shot and killed Saturday during a federal operation in Minneapolis, where video shows him recording Border Patrol agents as they carried out the operation before the situation escalated.
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After an agent pushed a woman to the ground, Pretti moved in to help her. He was then surrounded by agents, shoved down, and restrained. One agent appears to remove a firearm from Pretti’s waistband before another agent fires multiple shots at him.
The Department of Homeland Security later released a photo of the gun, a loaded 9 millimeter handgun. DHS also said Pretti was carrying two spare magazines.
Officials quickly framed the weapon as justification for the shooting.
But Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara confirmed that Pretti was a legal gun owner with a valid permit to carry. Minnesota law also allows individuals to carry firearms during protests.
That detail stood in contrast to claims from senior Trump administration officials. FBI Director Kash Patel said on Fox News that “you cannot bring a firearm loaded with multiple magazines” to a protest.
“It’s that simple,” Patel added.
Those statements triggered immediate backlash from gun rights groups.
“Carrying an extra magazine implies nothing,” the National Association for Gun Rights wrote. “This is standard, not overkill.”
Even Democrats seized on Trump’s remarks.
“GOP president: You can’t have guns,” the Democratic National Committee posted on X, alongside a clip of Trump’s comments.
Trump’s new stance clashes with what he said before about guns.
In 2020, he defended Mark and Patricia McCloskey after they pointed firearms at protesters outside their St. Louis home. “They were legal, the weapons,” Trump said at the time. He also praised Kyle Rittenhouse, who carried a semi automatic rifle to a protest in Kenosha and killed two people. Trump later said Rittenhouse “should not have had to suffer through a trial.”
In 2022, he spoke at the NRA conference just days after the Uvalde school shooting that killed 19 children and two teachers. He blamed school officials, not guns.
Since returning to office, Trump has continued to promote gun ownership. “I’m in favor of it,” he said recently when asked about expanding concealed carry in Washington, D.C. “I’m a Second Amendment person.”
Featured image via Political Tribune Gallery
