One journalist asks about FBI director Kash Patel's comments over the weekend alleging that you cannot bring a loaded firearm to a protest, referring to Alex Pretti. Does the president believe Second Amendment rights remain in place even when protesting?

Leavitt says there has been "no greater supporter" of Second Amendment gun rights than President Trump, and she says he fully believes in the right to bear arms.

"Americans do not have the right to impede lawful immigration enforcement operations and any gun owner knows that when you are carrying a weapon... and you are confronted by law enforcement you are raising the assumption of risk and the risk of force being used against you," she added.

For context: It is not clear how Pretti's interaction with the ICE agents began on Saturday.

Image source, EPA/Shutterstock

Karoline Leavitt is asked whether Tom Homan's presence in Minnesota will impact on the work of US Border Patrol chief Greg Bovino.

Leavitt replies that Bovino is going to continue to lead Customs and Border Pontrol "throughout and across the country".

"Mr Homan will be the main point of contact on the ground in Minneapolis," she adds.

Leavitt is asked if Americans have the right to show up and film interactions with ICE.

She says the First Amendment means Americans can do that, but adds they cannot obstruct law enforcement, which she says is a crime.

Leavitt is asked again if Trump remains confident in Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, given that the White House border czar has been deployed to Minneapolis instead of her.

Leavitt says, "Yes, he still has confidence".

She says that if local law enforcement in Minnesota were to work together with ICE, then the deployment of Customs and Border Protection officers to Minneapolis would no longer be needed.

She adds that Governor Tim Walz has asked Trump to scale down the number of immigration officers present in the state.

Leavitt is asked if there is body camera footage of the shooting of Alex Pretti by a federal agent, and whether it will be made public.

She says she will not commit to that at this time because she has not heard the president's thoughts on that.

Leavitt is next asked about "domestic terrorism" accusations that were used by administration officials to describe the man who was killed, Alex Pretti.

She is also asked whether Trump's senior adviser Stephen Miller will apologise for calling Pretti a "would-be assassin".

Leavitt says that Trump wants to let the facts on the investigation lead itself, and declines to address Miller's comments.

She reiterates: "We mourn for the parents" as she says that nobody at the White House wants to see Americans hurt or losing their lives on US streets.

Image source, Getty Images

Leavitt says Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem still has the "utmost trust" of the president and is still in control of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) as well as the Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema).

She says Noem and Fema are helping to deal with the aftermath of the winter storm across the United States.

As such, so-called border tsar Tom Homan is in a unique position to drop everything and travel to Minneapolis to have conversations with local and state officials, Leavitt says.

Leavitt is asked about White House adviser Stephen Miller's comment that Pretti was a "would-be assassin" who sought to kill law enforcement agents, and whether the Trump administration jumped to conclusions before an investigation could be completed.

Leavitt says the situation has been a very "fluid", and reiterates that Trump wants an investigation to unfold.

Bernd Debusmann Jr
Reporting from the White House

For the first time I've seen since the second Trump administration began, the briefing room isn't uncomfortably crowded - likely a function of the chaotic post-snow roads in the Washington area.

Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt quickly addressed the shooting in Minnesota but shifted any blame to "hostage resistance" from local leaders, including Governor Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey.

While Leavitt acknowledged that investigations into the shooting are ongoing, the administration is digging into its argument that "incitement" from Democrats created an unsafe situation for federal law enforcement officers.

The arrest and removal of undocumented migrants, she said, is the "will of the people" - a nod to the role immigration played in Trump's successful 2024 election campaign.

Leavitt says President Trump is calling on Congress to immediately pass legislation ending sanctuary cities "once and for all".

For context, the term "sanctuary city" has been popular in the US for more than a decade to describe places that limit their local authorities' assistance to federal immigration authorities.

Since it is not a legal term, cities have taken a variety of approaches to becoming "sanctuaries", such as setting policies in law or simply changing local policing practices.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt says it's Trump's "hope and wish and demand for the resistance and chaos" in Minneapolis to end today.

This is why Trump spoke to Walz directly this morning, she continues, before setting out a path that the president has outlined to restoring law and order.

Firstly, she calls for Walz "and all Democrat leaders" to hand over all migrant criminals currently in their prisons to federal authorities for immediate deportation.

Secondly, Leavitt says this duty should extend to migrants illegally in the US who have been arrested by local police.

Finally, she calls for local police to help federal officials detain wanted migrants in the US illegally who have committed crimes.

If this happens, she says, border patrol officials won't be needed on the ground to support ICE in Minnesota.

Leavitt is now blaming the Biden administration for the tense environment in Minneapolis, saying the previous president's policies allowed people to cross into the United States illegally.

She says Trump promised to secure the border and to deport illegal migrants who have committed crimes, and that that operation will continue.

Image source, Reuters

Leavitt contines by saying that the shooting deaths of both Renee Good and Alex Pretti this month was caused by the actions of local and state government, including the governor of Minnesota and the mayor of Minneapolis, who she says spread "lies" about immigration enforcement operations.

She claims the Democrats have used their platform to encourage "left-wing agitators to stalk, record, confront and obstruct" federal immigration agents.

Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt addresses the weekend's scenes in Minnesota.

She says the shooting of Alex Pretti on Saturday is under active investigation by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

"The administration is reviewing everything with respect to the shooting and we will let that investigation play out," she says.

Image source, Reuters

Karoline Leavitt has begun speaking to reporters at the White House. You can follow along by clicking watch live at the top of this page.

Leavitt begins her briefing by providing an update on the extreme weather in some parts of the US as a result of the widespread winter storm - you can keep up to date on that story on our colleagues' live page.

We're about to see a media briefing from White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt.

We'll bring you any of her comments on Minneapolis here, and you can watch live by tapping the button at the top of the page as she addresses reporters.

Image source, Reuters

We're expecting a White House briefing shortly, but before that, here's a reminder of the developments we've heard today:

• Donald Trump says he's spoken to Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, with the pair on a "similar wavelength"
• Trump says the Democrat is also "happy" that the president's top border official Tom Homan is headed to Minneapolis, where Trump says he'll be "tough but fair"
• Walz has also discussed the "productive" call, saying he told the president there must be "impartial investigations" into this month's two shooting deaths of US citizens by federal immigration agents in his state
• Before briefing the media, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt has said Trump's Homeland Security Secretary Kirsti Noem retains the president's "full trust and confidence" while Homan manages ICE operations on the ground
• Meanwhile, a Federal court is hearing arguments on limiting ICE's operation in Minneapolis, as the state of Minnesota asks a district judge to reduce the number of officers present
• At the scene of Saturday's shooting, community members are describing the toll of Alex Pretti's death as "devastating" - our reporter saw one nurse brought to tears as she paid tribute
• For more on where exactly the 37-year-old was shot, you can find a map in our ealier post

Minnesota Governor Tim Walz says his phone call with President Donald Trump on Monday was "productive".

During the call, Walz "made the case that 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 governor says.

Walz says that Trump agreed to "talk to his Department of Homeland Security about ensuring" that state police are allowed to participate in the shooting investigations.

"The President also agreed to look into reducing the number of federal agents in Minnesota and working with the state in a more coordinated fashion on immigration enforcement regarding violent criminals," he says.

Walz says in his statement that he also took the opportunity to remind Trump that the Minnesota Department of Corrections co-operates with ICE by informing them when they have a person in custody who is not a US citizen.

"There is not a single documented case of the department’s releasing someone from state prison without offering to ensure a smooth transfer of custody," says Walz.

You can read Trump's statement about the phone call here.

Image source, Getty Images

Trump's former Vice President Mike Pence says the footage of Alex Pretti's fatal shooting by federal agents is "deeply troubling", adding that a full and transparent investigation of the officer involved must happen "immediately".

"The American people deserve to have safe streets," says Pence, who served as vice president under Trump from 2017 to 2021.

He says his prayers are with Alex Pretti's family in the "wake of the tragic shooting" that claimed the 37-year-old's life.

The focus of law enforcement, Pence says, should now be be on addressing the concerns of the public while "ensuring that dangerous illegal aliens are apprehended".

"The American people deserve to have safe streets, our laws enforced and our constitutional rights of Freedom of Speech, peaceable assembly and the right to keep and bear Arms respected and preserved all at the same time," he concludes.

Tom Bateman
Reporting from Minneapolis

A nurse that I meet at the scene of the shooting of Alex Pretti is in tears.

"It is awful what they are doing to us," Marissa tells me through the tears, adding that she finds the situation simply "devastating".

Over the last weeks, she says the compassion from neighbours has been overwhelming and she says "everyone is coming together to keep each other safe".

When I asked her what she wants from the US president and his administration, she says she "wants them to leave them alone" but also calls for a thorough investigation of the shooting.

Everyone she knows is terrified, "no matter if you are here legally or not".