(CNN) 鈥 Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey delivered a stern message one week ago to federal agents following the of a Minnesota woman who was protesting their efforts to round up immigrants in the state. 鈥淕et the f**k out of Minneapolis,鈥 Frey said.
The remark immediately put Frey in the national spotlight and at the center of the fiercest battle yet over President Donald Trump鈥檚 in cities across the country.
Tensions between local protesters and federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents have only , after a federal agent a man Wednesday night who had allegedly assaulted the agent. Seeking to deescalate the situation, Frey urged protesters to go home afterward.
鈥淲e cannot counter Donald Trump鈥檚 chaos with our own brand of chaos,鈥 he said Wednesday night, after local police said protesters were shooting fireworks at officers. 鈥淔or those that have peacefully protested, I applaud you. For those that are taking the bait, you are not helping, and you are not helping the undocumented immigrants of our city. You are not helping the people who call this place home.鈥
The city鈥檚 efforts over the past week to respond to the ICE crackdown 鈥 and the Trump administration鈥檚 decision to double down on its Minneapolis surge 鈥 demonstrates the difficult situation Frey and other state and local Democrats face. Standing up to the Trump administration bought Frey respect in his overwhelmingly Democratic city 鈥 but it also made him a target of the White House and its Republican allies.
On Friday evening, CNN and other news outlets that the Justice Department was investigating Frey and Minnesota Democratic Gov. Tim Walz over possible obstruction of federal law enforcement.
Polls show that public opinion has shifted rapidly against the Trump administration鈥檚 immigration enforcement actions. A conducted by SSRS found that 56% of Americans believe Renee Good鈥檚 killing was an inappropriate use of force, while just 26% of Americans say that they view the shooting as an appropriate use of force. Americans say, 51% to 31%, that ICE enforcement actions are making cities less safe rather than safer.
But Trump, who campaigned on pledges to lead a mass deportation effort, has dug in, placing a particular emphasis on Minnesota 鈥 a Democratic-led state that he wrongly said he believes he won in three consecutive presidential elections. His administration plans to to the state. And on Thursday he threatened to , a centuries-old law, to deploy American troops to Minnesota if local political leaders don鈥檛 鈥渟top the professional agitators and insurrectionists from attacking鈥 immigration agents.
Frey and other Minnesota leaders have responded with accusing federal agents of making warrantless arrests and using excessive force, while Frey has been a constant presence on national and state television.
鈥淭his is retribution-style politics,鈥 Frey told CNN in an interview. 鈥淭his is drama. This is performance politics at its worst, and it鈥檚 hurting people and it鈥檚 making us less safe.鈥
鈥楾he more inflammatory action鈥
As the legal battle plays out behind the scenes, Frey has been at the forefront of the fight for public sentiment, appearing frequently on television.
He pushed back when facing an initial round of criticism from Republicans that his rhetoric was inflammatory.
鈥淚鈥檓 so sorry if I offended their Disney princess ears,鈥 Frey told CNN鈥檚 Kaitlan Collins last week. 鈥淚f we鈥檙e talking about what鈥檚 inflammatory, on the one hand, you鈥檝e got someone who dropped an f-bomb. On the other hand, you鈥檝e got someone who killed somebody else. 鈥 I think the more inflammatory action is killing somebody.鈥
Frey has also gone onto conservative networks like Fox News to argue that the administration jumped to conclusions to immediately defend the agent and shouldn鈥檛 have blocked the state from investigating.
As Democrats look for potent ways to counter Trump鈥檚 federal crackdown on Democratic-leaning cities, Frey has emerged as a surprising antidote: a Midwestern mayor with an aggressive message of how to fight back against a president with three years left in his term.
鈥淚n a moment of crisis like this, in a moment where communities are being terrorized, you have to stand up with absolute clarity and a sense of moral rectitude and sense of purpose 鈥 not backing down,鈥 said Democratic National Committee Chairman Ken Martin, a former Minnesota state party chair and long-time friend of Frey.
The conflict with ICE is the latest in a long string of crises to face Minnesota in recent months. Last June, state Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband were assassinated in their home. In August, two children were killed and 30 people injured in a mass shooting at a church in Minneapolis. In recent weeks, the state has faced an onslaught of criticism over鈥痑llegations of in federally-funded social programs 鈥 leading to Walz .
Video of ICE agent Jonathan Ross shooting and killing Good has sparked a partisan division, with Republican lawmakers and commentators arguing Ross was acting in self-defense and lambasting Frey鈥檚 outspokenness.
Rep. Tom Emmer, a Minnesota Republican and House majority whip, told CNN Frey was 鈥渁n embarrassment鈥 after his statement last week.
鈥淛acob Frey is a disgrace,鈥 White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said in a statement. 鈥淚mmediately after an ICE officer was attacked, he rushed to publicly lie and incite more violence against law enforcement. He must stop smearing law enforcement and apologize for his lies.鈥
鈥榃hat Frey said鈥
When Frey told ICE agents to 鈥済et the f**k out鈥 at a news conference last week, councilwoman Linea Palmisano initially cringed. 鈥淥oh, did he have to do that?鈥 she thought.
But she quickly realized Frey was speaking for much of the city.
That evening, Palmisano asked her 14-year-old son if he鈥檇 seen the mayor on television. 鈥淢om, it was perfect,鈥 he told her. Over the weekend, moms in the bleachers at her son鈥檚 basketball game were buzzing about Frey鈥檚 comment 鈥 one texted her a t-shirt she鈥檇 mocked up with the mayor鈥檚 words on it, asking if she could get it to Frey.
The same day, a friend attending an anti-ICE rally texted her a photo of a protester holding a sign that simply read: 鈥淲hat Frey said.鈥
鈥淗e didn鈥檛 really realize it in the moment, but he really grabbed the megaphone,鈥 Palmisano said of Frey. 鈥淚n that moment in time, Kristi Noem and Donald Trump had already started laying down the narrative. And I think what he said jumped right up onto that level of the stage as a rebuttal.鈥
In the days that followed, Frey emerged as the face of the opposition to Trump鈥檚 immigration crackdown in Minnesota 鈥 repeatedly lambasting the actions of more than 2,000鈥疘CE鈥痑gents deployed to his city and the surrounding area.
For Frey, the 44-year-old mayor who was narrowly elected to his third term this past November, the protests across Minneapolis are reminiscent of the first time he was thrust into the national spotlight in 2020, when civil unrest鈥痮ver the police killing of George Floyd took over Minneapolis and spread across the United States.
Frey faced criticism from both the left and the right in the aftermath of the protests and violence that followed: Progressives in the city 鈥痺hen he refused to support defunding the police, while Trump and conservatives pointed to protestors burning a police precinct as evidence of failed governance.
鈥淚 think we found ourselves in 2020 in a situation in which there just were no good options,鈥 said Melvin Carter, who was mayor of neighboring St. Paul in 2020. 鈥淎nd we had to try to figure out how to navigate the best of the worst options. I think Mayor Frey did that very well, quite frankly.鈥
Frey told CNN he鈥檚 learned lessons from handling the Floyd protests that have prepared him for this moment.
鈥淚鈥檓 not the same mayor or leader that I was in 2019,鈥 Frey said.鈥淥ver time, you learn that there鈥檚 a long arc. And if you do the right thing鈥 while you certainly might not gain love in the moment 鈥 in fact you might gain a whole lot of wrath 鈥 over time people respect it.鈥
Tangling with 鈥榖ullies鈥 鈥 and progressives
Frey and Palmisano鈥痺ere first elected to the city council together in 2013. The two are political allies, representing the more moderate wing of the Democratic Party, while progressives hold a council majority. She said she and Frey share a penchant for cursing, recalling when his 4-year-old daughter picked up the phrase 鈥渇**k 鈥榚m.鈥 But those were private conversations; Frey鈥檚 comment Thursday was on national television.
Still, she said, Frey鈥檚 confrontational approach to the Trump administration is consistent with his character.
She described the mayor as someone who 鈥渓iterally runs at bullies.鈥 She said Frey 鈥 a distance runner who grew up in Northern Virginia, attended law school at Villanova University and moved to Minneapolis after graduation when he fell in love with the city in a 2009 visit for the Twin Cities Marathon 鈥 once chased after a man who had run off after heckling him in a park because Frey wanted to strike up a conversation.
鈥淲hen people want to be trolls from what they think is a safe distance, they get Jacob Frey in their face,鈥 she said. 鈥淪o it doesn鈥檛 surprise me at all that without regard for himself or his own safety, he would run after Donald Trump.鈥
In 2020, Frey鈥檚 refusal to support the 鈥渄efund the police鈥 movement angered progressives and led to a fierce challenge in his 2021 reelection bid.鈥疕e narrowly fended off a challenge from the left again in November 2025, winning a third term, 53% to 47%.
In 2021, Frey opposed a ballot measure to overhaul policing in the city in the wake of Floyd鈥檚 killing, which鈥. Frey and the city worked with the Justice Department to agree鈥痠n the final weeks of the Biden administration. When the Trump administration鈥, Frey swiftly said the city would stand by the changes to policing.
鈥淗e juggled the interests of his constituents and the police department he leans on to keep the city safe,鈥 said Kristen Clarke,鈥痶he former head of the Civil Division at the Justice Department, which reached the agreement with the city.
How to be 鈥榓 constant presence鈥
Minnesota has also turned to the courts to try to stop the Trump administration鈥檚 immigration crackdown.
This week, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison and the Twin Cities sued Noem and the Trump administration to try to block the surge of ICE agents, alleging that the immigration operation amounted to 鈥渁 federal invasion of the Twin Cities.鈥
A federal judge on Wednesday鈥痑 temporary restraining order as Minnesota officials sought,鈥痑sking for more responses before issuing a ruling and noting that the lawsuit presents 鈥渟omewhat frontier issues in constitutional law.鈥
Frey told CNN that Minnesota leaders were looking to all possible avenues try to fight back against the federal government. 鈥淵ou use the tools that you have, and especially you lean on the law and the Constitution, which is firmly on our side, because what we are experiencing right now does truly feel like an invasion,鈥 he said.
Carter, who left office as St. Paul mayor this year, said one of the lessons that the city leaders learned from the aftermath of Floyd鈥檚 killing was the need to get their message out and be a 鈥渃onstant presence.鈥
鈥淗ow do we keep on communicating 鈥 even if I don鈥檛 have anything different to say 鈥 in a way that at least helps people to feel some sense of security, so they can brace themselves for what鈥檚 ahead?鈥 Carter said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 something I see Mayor Frey doing is communicating very intentionally, very consistently.鈥
Even as Frey鈥檚 national profile has been elevated and Walz has ended his reelection campaign, Frey told CNN he is not interested in running for higher office.
鈥淚鈥檝e got a job to do here,鈥 he said.
The-CNN-Wire
鈩 & 漏 2026 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.
