Amid nationwide outcry and a growing chorus of influential voices demanding accountability following the fatal shooting of 37-year-old ICU nurse Alex Pretti by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents in Minneapolis, U.S. President Donald Trump accused Democrats of exaggerating Pretti’s positive qualities to “score cheap sympathy points” during a press conference on Tuesday, 27 January 2026.

“They’re literally presenting him [Pretti] as a choirboy, a model citizen—the sort of person even God would be fond of. If that were true, he wouldn’t have been shot to death in the first place. God likes people who don’t get shot to death. That’s why He saved me from assassination,” Mr Trump added.

When asked to comment on the discrepancy between his administration’s claim that CBP agents had taken reasonable precautionary measures in shooting Pretti and video footage showing he was unarmed when shot, Mr Trump stated:

“It would have been pretty stupid for CBP agents to shoot Pretti before disarming him. He could have shot back!”