The Trump regime never apologises. It never admits error. It simply scuttles sideways, trailing spin like ink from a startled squid.
On Saturday, federal agents shot and killed Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old ICU nurse, on a Minneapolis street. Within hours, the administration’s messaging machine roared to life. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem labelled him a “domestic terrorist.” Officials claimed he brandished a gun at agents. The implication was clear: he deserved what he got.
Then the eyewitness video emerged. It told a different story.
By Monday, the sideways scuttle had begun. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt insisted that President Trump had never characterised Pretti as a domestic terrorist. She declined to explain why Noem and other officials had done exactly that. Trump, we were told, wants to “let the facts lead.”
Note what did not happen. No one said “we were wrong.” No one apologised to Pretti’s family for branding their dead son a terrorist. No one acknowledged the smear. They simply pretended it never occurred while Leavitt blamed Minnesota Democrats for Pretti’s death.
This is not a backdown. This is repositioning. The slur travels at the speed of outrage. The spin arrives later, quieter, designed not to correct the record but to muddy it.
The pattern is now familiar. Say the cruel thing loudly. Wait for backlash. Deny you ever said it. Blame Democrats. The accusation gets the megaphone. The correction never comes at all.
The regime remains sensitive to public opinion. They replaced the Minneapolis operations chief. They signalled cooperation with Governor Walz. But do not mistake these tactical adjustments for accountability. They are damage control dressed as reasonableness.
Maya Angelou’s advice remains the sharpest lens for moments like this: “When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time.”
When they slurred Alex Pretti as a domestic terrorist, they meant it. Everything since has been squid ink.