Von Minnesota bis Maga drängen Mauern auf Trump

For an administration that never likes to exude a scintilla of weakness, [Donald Trump](https://inews.co.uk/topic/donald-trump?srsltid=AfmBOorTwzbmqW0TnaW5pRhBIAzbI-dkNsU5jdNlZ7jYWPtvLQ9v8NMT&ico=in-line_link) and his lieutenants have found themselves relentlessly on the back foot this week.

Things got so bad that at one point, the White House urged supporters not to give in to panic.

“We’re Winning – And We’re Not Slowing Down”, an e-mail assured Republicans. “Don’t take the bait. New victories pour in daily”, it insisted.

In fact, the only thing pouring in daily this week was a [torrent of bad news for the White House](https://inews.co.uk/news/world/new-epstein-file-suggests-trump-knew-paedophiles-behaviour-4228410?ico=in-line_link), fuelling questions about whether Trump has overplayed his hand and is now leaving his best days behind him.

Last weekend’s disastrous own goal, sparked by Trump’s [social media posting of a video that included a racist,](https://inews.co.uk/news/world/trump-flailing-racism-backlash-damage-beyond-repair-4222312?ico=in-line_link) two-second meme of the Obamas portrayed as primates in a jungle, was just the beginning. Republicans were left fuming over shifting White House explanations for the video’s appearance on Trump’s Truth Social account.

As late as Thursday, the US President was still telling reporters that no action had been taken to discipline the junior staffer who allegedly posted the video on his direct instructions. No expression of regret for the incident has ever passed his lips, nor has any apology been proffered to the former first couple.

Thursday’s announced U-turn in Minneapolis over the brutal presence in the city of ICE and Border Patrol agents sweeping people off the streets, and killing two American citizens last month in the process, is a stunning climb-down forced on the White House by the fury of Minnesotans. “Operation Metro Surge”, unleashed on the city on 4 December, has proved an unmitigated disaster for Trump’s Department of Homeland Security.

The slayings of [Renee Good and Alex Pretti](https://inews.co.uk/news/what-videos-of-ice-tell-us-4159532?srsltid=AfmBOoqmSwu-flrcPzftz7ec4rVUoiKEZNR1up7IdYxQbgwkRw7wYYLl&ico=in-line_link), gunned down in cold blood by ICE and Border Patrol agents, respectively, resulted in the removal and demotion of swaggering commander-at-large, Greg Bovino.

Trump’s Border Czar Tom Homan is now based in Minneapolis, cleaning up Bovino’s mess and orchestrating the departure of up to three thousand masked federal agents who have tormented the city. Tim Walz, the Democratic governor of Minnesota, praised relieved locals for seeing off what he called an “unprecedented federal invasion” of his state.