Top White House aide Stephen Miller sharply escalated rhetoric surrounding the anti-ICE protests in Minnesota on Thursday, labeling the demonstrators an “insurgency” against the federal government just hours after Donald Trump warned he could invoke the Insurrection Act to restore order.
Miller made the remarks during an appearance on the Charlie Kirk Show, arguing that the protesters’ own language and behavior justified the label. He said the situation was clear if Americans simply paid attention to how demonstrators were describing federal authorities. According to Miller, protesters were portraying the federal government as an “occupying force,” which he said crossed a dangerous line and amounted to open resistance against lawful authority.
Earlier Thursday, Trump posted a strongly worded message on his Truth Social account warning Minnesota officials to rein in what he described as professional agitators and insurrectionists targeting ICE agents. Trump said that if state leaders failed to act, he would invoke the Insurrection Act, noting that previous presidents had done so before. He praised ICE agents as patriots carrying out their duties and vowed to bring a swift end to what he called a travesty unfolding in what he described as a once-great state.
The comments came amid escalating protests following another shooting on Wednesday night. Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz responded publicly, urging Trump to lower the temperature. In a social media post, Walz appealed directly to the president to stop what he characterized as a campaign of retribution, arguing that the current approach was not reflective of the country’s values.
Miller, however, showed no interest in dialing back the confrontation. He continued his argument by laying out what he described as the federal government’s core responsibilities, emphasizing its authority to administer federal law, benefits, resources, and immigration enforcement across all 50 states. He pointed to federal involvement in funding entitlement programs, securing airports and ports of entry, and maintaining national infrastructure as evidence that federal authority cannot be selectively ignored by states or cities.
He argued that immigration enforcement, in particular, falls exclusively under federal jurisdiction, stressing that the United States operates under one national immigration law. Miller said the country also has one Constitution, one currency, and one flag, warning that allowing individual states or cities to effectively nullify federal immigration law would undermine the very existence of the republic.
Miller accused Minnesota leaders of attempting to test that proposition. He claimed that figures such as Frye, Ellison, and Walz were asserting an unfettered right to harbor individuals who have no legal right to remain in the country. He went further, alleging that their actions amounted to encouraging organized agitators to violently obstruct federal officers from carrying out duly enacted immigration law.
The clash underscores the widening divide between the Trump administration and Democratic leaders in Minnesota, with the debate now centered not just on immigration policy, but on the limits of state resistance to federal authority and the federal government’s willingness to use its full powers to enforce the law.
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