Two Rupert Murdoch-owned newspapers, The Wall Street Journal and the New York Post, on Sunday urged Donald Trump to put a halt to his brutal immigration operation in Minnesota following the killing of Alex Pretti this weekend, in a clear sign the Australian media mogul is urging the president to back away from his aggressive strategy.

The Journal’s editorial, titled “Time for ICE to Pause in Minneapolis,” warned Trump that Pretti’s fatal shooting, the second killing of a protester in the city by federal officers, “is the worst incident to date in what is becoming a moral and political debacle” for his presidency.

The conservative paper’s editorial board added that Trump “would be wise to pause ICE enforcement in the Twin Cities to ease tensions and consider a less provocative strategy.”

The board condemned Trump administration officials’ efforts to distort reality on Saturday’s tragedy, directly calling out Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Trump deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller, who baselessly labeled Pretti a “domestic terrorist” and claimed the 37-year-old ICU nurse set out to kill law enforcement.

“Ms. Noem and Mr. Miller aren’t credible spokesmen. Their social-media and cable-TV strategy is to own the libs, rather than to persuade Americans,” it said.

The Journal noted that “Miller’s mass deportation methods are turning immigration, an issue Mr. Trump owned in 2024, into a political liability for Republicans” ahead of the 2026 midterm elections, also citing the detention of a 5-year-old boy.

“Americans don’t want law enforcement shooting people in the street or arresting five-year-old boys. The President who said you have to have a heart in enforcement ought to show some,” it said.

The Post’s editorial board echoed the Journal in criticizing the administration’s messaging strategy, noting that eyewitness video of the shooting directly undercuts Trump officials’ claims that Pretti “brandished” a firearm at federal agents.

“The alacritous and misleading rhetoric coming out of the administration needs to stop: Any reasonable person who has watched the videos clearly knows by now he was not ‘waving his gun around,’” it said.

“Noem should also take a break from her self-promoting and combative TV hits,” it added.

The Post also cautioned Trump against invoking the Insurrection Act, a step the president has previously threatened to take, warning the move “would backfire.”

“Team Trump needs to cool things down, and let the American public see calm leadership,” it said.

The Post added that “however noble the mission is to rid the country of the ‘worst of the worst,’ the broad support for it is now ebbing fast.”

“Mr. President, the American people didn’t vote for these scenes and you can’t continue to order them to not believe their lying eyes,” it warned.

Trump has so far refrained from criticizing federal agents’ actions, instead blaming Democrats and the victim himself for Saturday’s violence.

Yet, in an interview with the Journal published Sunday afternoon, Trump left open the possibility that immigration enforcement officials would eventually exit the city.

“At some point, we will leave. We’ve done, they’ve done a phenomenal job,” he said.