This is the Jan. 26, 2026 edition of “The Tea, Spilled by Morning Joe” newsletter. Subscribe here to get it delivered straight to your inbox every Monday through Friday.
An American was shot at point-blank range by masked government agents.
Administration officials quickly labeled the victim — a Department of Veterans Affairs nurse with no criminal record — a domestic terrorist. They falsely claimed he wanted to slaughter Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.
When video evidence proved that story false, officials then suggested that Alex Pretti deserved to be shot because he was in legal possession of a gun.
Even the National Rifle Association and Gun Owners of America struck back at Trump’s team for parroting such unconstitutional mush.
This latest ICE killing is a political crisis for Donald Trump and Republicans. Many GOP leaders are likely relieved that President Trump and Minnesota’s governor are talking about ways to bring this crisis to an end.
Trump told Gov. Tim Walz that the Homeland Security Department would cooperate with investigations into the killing of Pretti.
The president is also sending border czar Tom Homan to Minnesota — an open rebuke to Kristi Noem.
And Trump has told Minnesota’s governor that he will consider drawing down the number of federal agents in the Twin Cities, Walz’s office confirms.
Political winds have shifted sharply against Republicans — especially with ICE gunning down Americans in the streets.
Even the Wall Street Journal’s editorial page has had enough of ICE’s cruel tactics:
Stephen Miller’s mass deportation methods are turning immigration, an issue Mr. Trump owned in 2024, into a political liability for Republicans in 2026.
Americans don’t want law enforcement shooting people in the street or arresting five-year-old boys.
The Trump Administration spin on this simply isn’t believable.
Stephen Miller, the political architect of the mass deportation policy, called Pretti a “domestic terrorist.” He was a nurse without a criminal record.
To hear the ardent gun-rights advocates of the Trump
Administration claim he had malicious intentions
because he carried a concealed weapon is bizarre.
It’s worth noting the comments over the weekend by police around the country who say that this isn’t how they conduct law enforcement.
This is backfiring against Republicans.
The president appears to have gotten the memo. Let’s pray that peace breaks out soon — and that justice is delivered to the families of Alex Pretti and Renee Good.
“The killing of Alex Pretti is a heartbreaking tragedy. It should also be a wake-up call to every American, regardless of party, that many of our core values as a nation are increasingly under assault.”
— Former President Barack Obama
Source: YouGov poll conducted Jan. 24, 2026; 3,359 U.S. adult citizens. Margin of error: approximately 2 points.
ON THIS DAY
On this day in 1954, ground breaking began on Disneyland, Walt Disney’s ambitious theme park — an enterprise that would forever change the entertainment world and leave a lasting mark on American culture. Here, Walt Disney stands by an early plan for the park.
EXTRA HOT TEA
Goodwill stores are busy. The New York Times reported this morning that as costs remain high and budgets feel tight, more Americans are turning to thrift stores to stretch their dollars.
Goodwill reported record sales in 2025, surpassing $7 billion in revenue across its 3,400 stores — up about 7% from the year before. Executives say shoppers are still spending, but doing so far more cautiously than in years past.
The growth is being driven not only by necessity but by taste. Goodwill’s sales are now nearly 50% higher than in 2019, fueled in part by Gen Z and millennial shoppers who see secondhand clothes as sustainable, distinctive, and fashionable.
As one 20-year old fashion student shopping for a winter coat put it, “It’s cheaper, and it’s good for the planet.”
A CONVERSATION WITH ANNE APPLEBAUM
The killing of an American by masked federal agents in Minneapolis this weekend has raised new questions about law enforcement authority and accountability.
Anne Applebaum, a Pulitzer Prize-winning historian of Soviet totalitarianism and the author of “The Twilight of Democracy” and “Autocracy, Inc.,” joined “Morning Joe” to place the moment in historical context — and to warn Americans about the broader patterns it reflects.
JS: Anne Applebaum, what’s your reaction to what we saw in Minneapolis this weekend?
AA: The key word is impunity.
The Trump administration has given these masked thugs in American cities the sense they can do whatever they want without consequence.
They’re operating in a lawless environment — answerable to no one. When they kill or assault someone, they can count on the administration’s backing.
That’s a hallmark of authoritarianism: When the rule of law collapses, courts are politicized and violence goes unpunished. The fact that this seems deliberate suggests a deeper agenda behind these deployments.
JS: Conservative legal scholar Robert George wrote that DHS’s decision to whitewash the Renee Good killing directly paved the way for Alex Pretti’s death because ICE agents learned there were no real consequences for brutality. As George put it, if an agent can execute an American citizen and [the Department of Homeland Security] covers it up, why wouldn’t others follow?
AA: Exactly — and that awareness of impunity is what breeds fear.
A witness to the Pretti killing said she left her home, afraid witnesses were being arrested. When people see that officers are above the law, anyone can become a target. That fear — terror, even — erodes citizenship. It makes people withdraw, stop voting, stop speaking out. That’s how societies turn passive under authoritarian regimes.
MB: To Anne’s point, that impunity — and what some are calling execution‑style killings — has shocked the nation. And across the country, families are still being torn apart, young children are being detained, citizens are being arrested, and property damaged. Rights seem to be violated daily by ICE.
JS: And that fear is spreading. Imagine being an American afraid to return home because ICE agents might arrest you to silence your testimony against their officers.
AA: Fear now travels far beyond Minneapolis — through social media, TV, and government offices.
Even Republican officials stay silent, unwilling to contradict obvious lies. Some are physically afraid of mobs; others are psychologically intimidated by ICE’s unchecked power.
This is the point of state terror: to public spectacles of violence meant to instill fear, dehumanize victims, and consolidate control.
It is profoundly un‑American. We’ve never seen this kind of federally sanctioned lawlessness before.
It is vital that Americans recognize it and prepare to politically resist.
ONE MORE SHOT
Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night shall stop the Naked Cowboy, seen here performing in Times Square yesterday.
SPILL IT!
This week, musician Amy Grant will join us to discuss her new single “The 6th Of January (Yasgur’s Farm).”
Have a question? Ask here, and we may feature your question on the show.
CATCH UP ON MORNING JOE
Former Rep. Joe Scarborough, R-Fla., is co-host of MS NOW's "Morning Joe" alongside Mika Brzezinski — a show that Time magazine calls "revolutionary." In addition to his career in television, Joe is a two-time New York Times best-selling author. His most recent book is "The Right Path: From Ike to Reagan, How Republicans Once Mastered Politics — and Can Again."