Trump watches video of Alex Pretti days before his death—and his comment about the ICU nurse has people calling it ‘disgusting’

President Donald Trump caused major backlash after making controversial comments about Alex Pretti, the ICU nurse who was killed by federal agents last weekend. Trump responded to a newly released video showing Pretti in a fight with masked agents days before his death, saying that Pretti’s “stock has gone way down.”

Pretti was a 37-year-old ICU nurse who worked at a veterans’ hospital. He was shot by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents on Saturday, January 24. When the shooting happened, Pretti was reportedly trying to help a female protestor off the ground. His death has increased anger across the country about immigration enforcement and Trump’s nationwide crackdown.

The timing is especially sensitive since Renée Nicole Good was fatally shot by an ICE officer while driving her car just weeks earlier. According to Unilad, the new video, confirmed as real by Pretti’s family, shows the nurse in a fight with federal officers 11 days earlier on January 13. The footage shows Pretti attacking an ICE vehicle. 

Trump’s response to the video draws widespread criticism

After watching the footage, President Trump posted on Truth Social, seemingly trying to change the story about the deceased nurse. “Agitator and, perhaps, insurrectionist, Alex Pretti’s stock has gone way down with the just released video of him screaming and spitting in the face of a very calm and under control ICE Officer, and then crazily kicking in a new and very expensive government vehicle, so hard and violent, in fact, that the taillight broke off in pieces,” Trump wrote.

“It was quite a display of abuse and anger, for all to see, crazed and out of control. The ICE Officer was calm and cool, not an easy thing to be under those circumstances! MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN.” The president’s post made people who were already angry about the shooting even more furious. Users on X quickly pointed out how heartless the statement seemed. 

One user wrote, “Only a deranged, empathy-free narcissist would defame a dead man whose family is grieving – just to score cheap political points and distract from his administration’s deadly incompetence. Utterly depraved and unfit.” 

Another person added, “He pardoned all his insurrectionist,” while a third commented, “Invade the Capitol, bust out windows, spread shit on the walls, steal government property? Get a Trump pardon. Kick out a tail light? Become ‘perhaps’ an insurrectionist. I hate Trump more than I hate Satan.”

While the January 13 video does show a violent fight, there’s an important difference from the fatal incident 11 days later. In the earlier fight, none of the agents pulled their guns on Pretti. On January 24, however, Pretti was disarmed and then shot 10 times. This controversy comes as critics point to his struggling trade and economic policies as another area where the administration faces mounting criticism.

Steve Schleicher, the attorney representing Pretti’s family, strongly rejected the president’s attempt to connect the incidents. Schleicher stated, “A week before Alex was gunned down in the street, despite posing no threat to anyone, he was violently assaulted by a group of ICE agents.” He stressed that nothing that happened a full week before could possibly justify Alex’s killing.  

Pretti’s death has energized public opinion and Democrats are currently considering withholding ICE funding, putting pressure on the administration and potentially leading to a government shutdown. The president’s handling of this situation has added to growing discontent among his supporters who have recently expressed frustration at rallies.