Trump Threatens to Invoke Insurrection Act to End Anti-ICE Protests in Minnesota

Trump warned that he would use the law if politicians didn’t stop attacks on ICE.

Federal immigration officers at the scene of a reported shooting in Minneapolis on Jan. 14, 2026. AP Photo/John Locher

President Donald Trump has threatened to use the Insurrection Act in Minnesota following an attack on an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent in the state.

“If the corrupt politicians of Minnesota don’t obey the law and stop the professional agitators and insurrectionists from attacking the Patriots of I.C.E., who are only trying to do their job, I will institute the INSURRECTION ACT, which many Presidents have done before me, and quickly put an end to the travesty that is taking place in that once great State,” Trump said in a Truth Social post on Jan. 15.

The law allows the president to deploy troops to counter an insurrection or armed rebellion. It serves as an exception to the Posse Comitatus Act, which prevents the use of the military for civilian law enforcement.

His comments came amid ongoing confrontations between demonstrators and law enforcement in the state, as well as tension between federal and state authorities.

On the night before Trump’s post, the Department of Homeland Security said an ICE agent was hospitalized following an ambush by an illegal immigrant.

Trump’s potential use of the Insurrection Act would mark a significant escalation in Minnesota, where officials have denounced federal immigration enforcement’s presence in the state. ICE had surged its presence in Minneapolis amid concerns about fraud in the Somali community.

After an ICE officer shot a woman in what the Trump administration described as self-defense, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, a Democrat, told the agency to leave the city.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, also a Democrat, similarly called on federal officials to leave and indicated that he would use the National Guard to support law enforcement.

In other states, Trump has federalized National Guard troops amid unrest surrounding ICE’s presence. Although he has floated the possibility of invoking the Insurrection Act, his administration has focused on a separate law, Section 12406, that allows the president to deploy members of the National Guard.

That strategy encountered a setback in December 2025, when the Supreme Court upheld a block on Trump’s use of the National Guard in Chicago. Following that ruling, Trump said he would withdraw National Guard members from multiple locations.

Naveen Athrappully and Jill McLaughlin contributed to this report.