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By Jordan King
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Newsweek has looked at four polls conducted during or after the death of Alex Pretti, who was shot during protests in Minneapolis on Saturday.
Two polls show that voters’ broader perceptions of Donald Trump remain largely unchanged, while two show a drop in the president’s approval rating.
When asked for comment on these polls, Abigail Jackson, White House spokesperson, told Newsweek: "President Trump won the 2024 election in a landslide based on his promise to carry out the largest mass deportation of criminal illegal aliens. Americans support the President’s agenda and they support the President’s call for local Democrat leaders to work with the Administration to remove illegal murderers, rapists, and pedophiles from their communities."
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Why It Matters
Pretti, a 37-year-old U.S. citizen and ICU nurse, was shot and killed by federal immigration officers on January 24, amid a surge of agents in Minneapolis, an incident captured on multiple videos and now drawing bipartisan calls for an investigation and scrutiny of the administration’s enforcement tactics.
How voters process the episode could influence views of both immigration enforcement and Trump’s leadership.
What To Know
Reuters/Ipsos polling found that Trump’s approval rating dropped three percentage points—from 41 percent in a survey conducted January 12-13 to 38 percent in a survey conducted January 23 to January 25.
This most recent poll, carried out among 1,034 adults, with a +/- 3.9 percentage point margin of error, also found a 1-percent rise in those who said they disapprove of Trump (59 percent to 50).
Rasmussen Reports found a slight change in Trump’s approval rating before and after the shooting.
The day before Pretti was killed, on January 23, 47 percent said that they approved of the job Trump was doing, while 52 percent said they disapproved.
These figures were the same two days later, but on January 27, Trump’s approval rating went down by 1 percent to 46 percent. His disapproval rating remained the same.
Some 1,500 likely voters were questioned for these polls, which have a +/- 2.5 percentage point margin of error.
Meanwhile, Napolitan News Service carried out a dedicated poll to determine the impact of the killing of Pretti and Renee Good, another U.S. citizen killed by an ICE agent on January 7.
"While the killing of Renee Good and Alex Pretti has voters are calling for the removal of ICE from Minnesota, it doesn't seem to have affected voters overall perception of immigration," the firm concluded.
Some 55 percent of 1,000 registered voters questioned on January 26 said they "favor removing ICE agents from Minnesota," while 34 percent said they oppose it and 10 percent said they were not sure.
But 52 percent said they favored the Trump Administration's deportation efforts both on January 21, before the killing of Pretti on January 24, and on January 26.
Those who opposed the administration efforts went down between these two surveys—from 47 percent on January 21 to 42 percent on January 26. The poll disclaims a +/- 3.1 percentage point margin of error.
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What People Are Saying
President Donald Trump said previously on Truth Social: "This is the gunman’s gun, loaded (with two additional full magazines!), and ready to go—What is that all about? Where are the local Police? Why weren’t they allowed to protect ICE Officers? The Mayor and the Governor called them off? It is stated that many of these Police were not allowed to do their job, that ICE had to protect themselves—Not an easy thing to do! Why does Ilhan Omar have $34 Million Dollars in her account? And where are the Tens of Billions of Dollars that have been stolen from the once Great State of Minnesota? We are there because of massive Monetary Fraud, with Billions of Dollars missing, and Illegal Criminals that were allowed to infiltrate the State through the Democrats’ Open Border Policy. We want the money back, and we want it back, NOW."
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz said in a post on X on Monday: "I had a productive call with President Donald Trump earlier today. I told him we need impartial investigations of the Minneapolis shootings involving federal agents, and that we need to reduce the number of federal agents in Minnesota.
"The President agreed to look into reducing the number of federal agents in Minnesota and to talk to DHS about ensuring the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension is able to conduct an independent investigation, as would ordinarily be the case."
What Happens Next
Additional national polls fielded after January 26 will be required to determine whether the Pretti shooting measurably moves Trump’s overall job approval.
On Capitol Hill and in Minnesota, investigations, legal challenges and funding debates are likely to keep enforcement tactics in the spotlight, sustaining public attention that could interact with future approval trends.
Update, 01/28/26, 7:50 a.m. ET: This article has been updated with comment from the White House.
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