Melania Trump unveils stamp honoring Barbara Bush, with George W. Bush absent

(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump said overnight that calling Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz after a political assassination sent shockwaves through the state would be a “waste of time.”

Trump was asked if he’d reach out to Walz, who was the vice presidential running mate for the Democratic Party’s 2024 nominee Kamala Harris, as he returned to Washington after leaving the G7 summit early.

“I think the governor of Minnesota is so whacked out. I’m not calling him,” Trump said. “Why would I call him? I could call and say, ‘Hi, how you doing?’ Uh, the guy doesn’t have a clue. He’s a mess. I could be nice and call, but why waste time?”

Trump told ABC News on Sunday that he “may” call Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz after a political assassination sent shockwaves through the state.

The president, who condemned the violence, called the Democratic governor a “terrible governor” and “grossly incompetent” in an interview with ABC News Senior Political Correspondent Rachel Scott.
“Well, it’s a terrible thing. I think he’s a terrible governor. I think he’s a grossly incompetent person. But I may, I may call him, I may call other people too,” the president told Scott.

As of Monday afternoon, Walz had not heard from the president, according to a source.

Minnesota is reeling from two back-to-back shootings. Authorities say a masked gunman disguised as a police officer shot and killed Minnesota state Rep. Melissa Hortman, a former speaker of the state House, and her husband Mark, and wounded a state senator and his wife early Saturday.

The accused gunman, 57-year-old Vance Luther Boelter, was captured late Sunday night.

Walz called the shootings an “act of targeted political violence.”

The president condemned the violence shortly after the attack.

“Such horrific violence will not be tolerated in the United States of America. God Bless the great people of Minnesota, a truly great place,” he said.

A source close the Walz told ABC News that Walz and Vice President JD Vance spoke regarding the shootings.

“The Governor expressed appreciation for the ongoing coordination between federal law enforcement and Minnesota public safety officials,” the person said.

A source told ABC News on Sunday that former President Joe Biden called Walz “right away.”

A source familiar with the call described the conversation on Monday as “compassionate.” The pair spoke about grief, Biden offered his condolences and “discussed Hortman’s legacy,” the source said, Biden had met Hortman and told Walz he “was a fan,” the source said.

The White House said in a statement that the FBI and the attorney general’s office will investigate the shootings and “will be prosecuting anyone involved to the fullest extent of the law.”

Police say the suspected gunman allegedly had dozens of Minnesota Democrats on a target list, which was retrieved from the his vehicle.

The assassination comes amid growing concerns about political violence in the U.S. following the recent killing of two Israeli embassy staffers in Washington, the arson attack at the home of Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, and the attempted assassination of Trump last summer.

ABC News’ Hannah Demissie contributed to this report.

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(WASHINGTON) —  The Supreme Court appears poised to rule narrowly in a closely watched dispute over when federal law enforcement can be held liable for mistakes that harm innocent victims.

Justices heard arguments on Tuesday in a case from Atlanta involving a 2017 pre-dawn FBI raid of the wrong house that traumatized a family and left thousands of dollars of damage.

Lower courts tossed out the victims’ claims for compensation because of sweeping legal immunity for government officials.

Much of the debate, while highly technical, focused on an exception to the immunity clause that Congress added to the Federal Tort Claims Act in 1974.

“If you really, really meant to drop the pizza off at the right address, it doesn’t matter. You still need to give a refund if you drop it off at the wrong address,” argued Patrick Jaicomo, an attorney representing the family.

A Trump administration attorney insisted officers exercising discretion in performance of their duties should not be subjected to lawsuits and second-guessed by courts.

“The officers here made a reasonable mistake,” said Frederick Liu, an assistant solicitor general.

Several justices did not appear to be buying the argument.

“That is so ridiculous,” Justice Sonia Sotomayor said. “Congress is … providing a remedy to people who have been wrongfully raided, and you’re now saying, ‘No, they really didn’t want to protect them fully.'”

Most law enforcement agencies don’t keep track of wrong-house raids or publicly report data, according to legal experts. Civil rights advocates estimate that are hundreds of cases of wrong-house raids nationwide each year, and most victims are not compensated for the physical or emotional harm that often results from them.

When Liu argued the FBI agents in the case did not violate any government policy despite the mistake, Justice Neil Gorsuch shot back incredulously.

“No policy says, ‘Don’t break down the wrong door? Don’t traumatize the occupants’? Really?” Gorsuch asked Liu.

“It’s the United States’ policy to execute the warrants at the right house,” Liu replied.

“I should hope so,” Gorsuch responded.

Despite sympathy for the plaintiffs, many of the justices appeared wary of a broad ruling that might open the floodgates to litigation against the government.

Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who is the justice most often in the majority, suggested the Supreme Court is likely to provide a limited decision and return the case to lower courts for further consideration.

A decision in the case is expected by the end of June.

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(WASHINGTON) — The new director of the federal Bureau of Prisons said the agency will “vigorously” pursue “all avenues to support and implement” the president’s agenda after President Donald Trump said he was wanted to reopen Alcatraz as a “substantially enlarged and rebuilt” prison.

Over the weekend, Trump posted on Truth Social that he was directing the Bureau of Prisons, along with the Department of Justice, FBI and DHS to reopen the facility.

“The Bureau of Prisons (BOP) will vigorously pursue all avenues to support and implement the President’s agenda,” said BOP Director William K. Marshall III, who was sworn in last month. “I have ordered an immediate assessment to determine our needs and the next steps. USP Alcatraz has a rich history. We look forward to restoring this powerful symbol of law, order, and justice. We will be actively working with our law enforcement and other federal partners to reinstate this very important mission.

“Just an idea I had,” Trump told reporters Sunday night when asked what prompted his proposal. “And I guess because so many of these radicalized judges, they want to have trials for every single, think of it, every single person that’s in our country illegally, they came in illegally. That would mean millions of trials, and it’s just so ridiculous what’s happening.”

Alcatraz, which sits in the middle of San Francisco Bay, has not been an operational prison since 1963, according to the National Park Service, which has maintained it as part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area since 1972. More than 1 million people visit the island each year, according to the BOP.

The facility, which was built as a fort to protect San Francisco Bay then converted to an Army prison before holding federal inmates, has housed notorious prisoners such as mobster Al Capone. Known as “The Rock,” the prison held on average 260 to 275 people, according to the Bureau of Prisons, and many inmates considered the living conditions at the prison to be better than most at the time, the agency says.

It was estimated that it would take $3 million to $5 million for restoration and maintenance work to keep the prison open in addition to daily operating costs, which were far higher than other federal prisons. Alcatraz’s daily per capita cost in 1959 was $10.10 compared to $3.00 for the federal prison in Atlanta.

A recent inspector general report estimated that the Bureau of Prisons facilities across the country needed $2 billion worth of repairs. The BOP has had to close facilities because of the dire conditions inside some prisons.

Elizabeth Neumann, a former DHS deputy chief of staff, told ABC News Live that the BOP “already has some pretty significant problems with its existing prisons.”

“They’ve closed a number in recent years just because they can’t maintain them. So to try to also turn around something that hasn’t been operational for 60 years, and make it habitable for people to be imprisoned would be a lot of money,” she said.

And it’s not just the cost of getting the facility ready to house inmates, she said.

“San Francisco is a very high cost of living area. Federal employees get paid more if they work in those high cost areas. So it’s not really a cost effective solution,” Neumann said. “If you’re looking to build producer capacity, you would it’s more effective to just build something new in a part of the country where the cost of living is lower.”

Neumann said she wasn’t surprised by Trump’s suggestion. She said during his first administration, she was often tasked with researching some of his proposals.

“He has a lot of ideas. People will go off and study them, then they’ll come back with the facts and, and usually it gets dropped at that stage,” she said.

House Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi, who represents the area in Congress, shot down Trump’s proposal.

“Alcatraz closed as a federal penitentiary more than sixty years ago. It is now a very popular national park and major tourist attraction. The President’s proposal is not a serious one,” she posted on X.

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