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A majority of Americans say ICE border agents have gone too far and Mr Trump is to blame.
09:10, Wed, Jan 28, 2026 Updated: 09:10, Wed, Jan 28, 2026
A majority of Americans disapprove of Donald Trump's approach to immigration (Image: Getty)
Donald Trump faces fury from some of his own backers as polling shows a majority of Americans disapprove of the US president's approach to immigration. The US-wide survey was carried out between Friday and Sunday (January 23-25), both before and after ICE officers killed nurse Alex Pretti in Minneapolis.
A majority of those who responded to the poll (58%) said US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents have gone too far in their clampdown, according to polling by Reuters/Ipsos. Thirty-nine percent of respondents approve of Mr Trump's approach to immigration while 53% disapprove. This compares to 50% who approved and 41% who disapproved in February 2025.
Alex Pretti was shot dead in Minneapolis (Image: Getty)
Reuters/Ipsos poll shows Mr Trump's overall approval rating slipped to 38% down from 41% in a poll carried out between January 12-13.
Since Mr Pretti was shot dead on Saturday a Customs and Border Protection official told Congress two federal officers fired shots during the encounter which led to the 37-year-old's death.
Officers tried to take Mr Pretti into custody and he resisted, leading to a struggle, according to the notice to Congress. The official said that during the struggle, a Border Patrol agent yelled, "He’s got a gun", multiple times.
A Border Patrol officer and a CBP officer each fired Glock pistols, according to the notice.
Mr Trump ordered border tsar Tom Homan to take over his immigration clampdown in Minnesota in the wake of Mr Pretti's death, which came in the same month Renee Good, also 37, was shot dead by an ICE officer.
The US president faces a growing revolt among those loyal to his MAGA movement who question Mr Trump's call to de-escalate tensions in Minnesota. They consider his response to be a betrayal of immigration border guards.
The shooting of Alex Pretti sparked protests across the US (Image: Getty)
Despite efforts to pin blame for the deaths on Democratic politicians who run the city, a majority of Americans blame Mr Trump for the bloodshed.
Polling carried out by JL Partners for the Daily Mail is reported to show a third of 1,027 respondents blame the president for the violence.
According to the poll, 53% blame Mr Trump while 35% say the Democrats are to blame. Nineteen percent of Republicans agreed the ICE and CBP raids should end, while 71% of GOP voters said the immigration raids should carry on.
The Republican president was asked on Tuesday whether Mr Pretti’s killing was justified. He responded by saying a "big investigation" was underway.
In the hours after Mr Pretti’s death, some White House officials had sought to blame the shooting on the intensive care nurse.
Stephen Miller, Mr Trump’s Deputy Chief of Staff, had initially called Mr Pretti "an assassin".
Mr Miller issued a statement suggesting Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers in Minneapolis "may not have been following" protocol.
He said the Homeland Security Department’s initial statements about what happened on Saturday were "based on reports from CBP on the ground".
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Meanwhile, a man was arrested after he sprayed an unknown liquid at Ilhan Omar as she was speaking at a town hall meeting in Minneapolis.
The Democratic representative for Minnesota's 5th congressional district had just called for the abolishment of ICE and for Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to resign when she was sprayed.
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