President Donald Trump‘s administration is preparing 1,500 troops for potential deployment to Minnesota, The Washington Post reported Sunday citing unnamed defense officials.
Neither the White House nor the Pentagon have directly confirmed the deployment plans, but the White House told the Post in a statement that the Department of War should be “prepared for any decision the President may or may not make.”
The Pentagon did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.
The report comes just days after Trump threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act to deploy U.S. military forces to Minnesota if state officials do not start cracking down on anti-ICE agitators.
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“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,” Trump posted on his Truth Social platform.
Minneapolis and St. Paul are already hosting some 3,000 federal agents deployed there after a massive fraud scandal rocked the state late last year.
Protesters across the Twin Cities have followed and harassed federal agents as they carry out operations, leading to confrontations and the killing of activist Renee Nicole Good by federal agents in the opening days of January.
MINNESOTA DEPT OF CORRECTIONS DISMISSES DHS NARRATIVE ABOUT THEM NOT COMPLYING WITH ICE
Trump toned down the pressure in a statement on Friday, saying he did not see at that point a reason to invoke the Insurrection Act.
“I believe it was Bush, the elder Bush, he used it, I think 28 times,” Trump told reporters while departing the White House. “It’s been used a lot. And if I needed it, I’d use it. I don’t think there’s any reason right now to use it, but if I needed it, I’d use it. It’s very powerful.”
The law reportedly has not been invoked since the 1992 Los Angeles riots, which began after four police officers were acquitted in the beating of Rodney King.
Despite Trump’s threat, some Republicans are resistant to the idea of using the centuries-old law.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., seemed to downplay Trump’s threat, placing his hope in local law enforcement’s ability to “settle things down.”
“Hopefully the local officials working with not only the federal law enforcement, ICE and other agencies, but also the local law enforcement officials will be able to settle things down,” Thune told reporters.
Fox News’ Louis Casiano contributed to this report.
