Minneapolis live updates: DOJ launches investigation into Pretti killing, Deputy AG Blanche says

President Donald Trump said that he just had a "very good" phone call with Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey.

"Lots of progress is being made!" Trump said in a post on social media.

Frey said he "appreciated" the call with Trump, during which the mayor said he "expressed how much Minneapolis has benefited from our immigrant communities and was clear that my main ask is that Operation Metro Surge needs to end."

"The president agreed that the present situation cannot continue," Frey said in a statement on social media.

"Some federal agents will begin leaving the area tomorrow, and I will continue pushing for the rest involved in this operation to go," he added.

Trump said that border czar Tom Homan will meet with Frey on Tuesday "to continue the discussion."

The call follows Trump's phone call with Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz earlier Monday.

U.S. District Judge Katherine Menendez has ordered the Trump administration to respond to Minnesota's argument that Operation Metro Surge was created to "punish" the state for its sanctuary laws.

In the order, the judge is asking the government to address the state's claims that the operation was put in place to punish the state for adopting sanctuary laws and policies; coerce officials into changing state and local laws; compel the state to use its resources to share information with federal immigration enforcement; and force local authorities to use more resources to hold immigration targets in detention for longer than otherwise allowed.

The federal judge ordered the government to file the supplemental brief by Wednesday evening.

The order follows a hearing earlier Monday on Minnesota's request for a temporary restraining order to halt the Trump administration's immigration enforcement in the state.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem will testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee on March 3, according to ranking Democratic member Sen. Dick Durbin.

"With all of the violence and deaths involving DHS, the Secretary is apparently in no hurry to account for her mismanagement of this national crisis. And she expects us to rubber stamp her record-breaking budget in the meantime," Durbin, D-Ill., said in a statement announcing the appearance.

A federal judge did not rule from the bench on Monday on whether to dissolve a temporary restraining order requiring the Trump administration to preserve evidence related to the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti.

During the hearing, Assistant U.S. Attorney Friedrich Siekert reiterated the government's position that the TRO should be dissolved because lawyers representing the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) had no proof that the government is not preserving evidence related to Saturday's shooting.

"The intention of the federal government and all the agencies is to preserve this evidence until the conclusion of all federal matters," Siekert said.

In a declaration previously filed in court, an unnamed FBI official who was at the scene of the shooting said that in the immediate aftermath of the incident they adhered to a 12-step process of collecting/preserving evidence, but that due to the scene becoming volatile with protesters, that process "was adapted for the safety of personnel."

When asked by the judge to explain what adaptations were made, Siekert said he did not know.

Minnesota Assistant Attorney General Peter Farrell argued on behalf of BCA and said the state agency had "serious concerns" that the government would not be able to conduct a thorough and transparent investigation, claiming that they had reason to believe there has already been "potential spoliation" of evidence.

Farrell hinted that the photos shared of the gun allegedly owned by Pretti showed that federal law enforcement officials were not preserving evidence in the same way that state investigators might.