We’re Never Letting Trump’s Administration Off the Hook: A letter from NDTC CEO Kelly Dietrich

Tom Homan — Trump's latest "border czar," who built his entire brand on being tough but is supposedly more professional — is now running the show in Minneapolis. This is the same man who took a $50,000 bag of cash from the FBI and said it wasn't a bribe.

This is not victory. This is a costume change.

After the murder of Alex Pretti in Minneapolis, the administration did what it rarely does: it temporarily “retreated." Or at least that’s what they want us to believe. 

Greg Bovino, the Border Patrol commander who called the slain ICU nurse a “would-be mass shooter,” was quietly reassigned and had access to his social media taken away. That's what they think accountability looks like.

The terror tactics haven't stopped. The warrantless arrests continue. Federal agents are still blocking state investigators from crime scenes. ICE is still operating with the training standards of mall cops and the accountability of none. And U.S. citizens are dead because of it. Bovino was loud. Homan is quiet. That's the only difference.

The Trap They're Setting

Here's what Trump is counting on: outrage fatigue.

He's betting that we'll see Bovino gone, hear the word "de-escalation," watch the news cycle move on, and forget that Renée Good and Alex Pretti are still dead. He's betting that Democrats will declare victory and the administration’s "muzzle velocity" strategy will move us all on to the next crisis, while ICE keeps moving forward.

Don't give him that.

This is what government by Fox News gets us. Dominate the narrative, lie confidently, and exhaust the opposition until they give up. They've learned they can get away with almost anything if they just wait out the outrage cycle.

We will not allow that to happen.

Play the Long Game for Long-Term Power

Look, I get the temptation to back off. Public pressure is working. Corporate Minnesota finally spoke up — kind of. Even Republican senators started sweating. The Wall Street Journal called it a "moral and political debacle." Trump had to do something.

But removing the guy who said the quiet part loud and replacing him with the guy who just does the quiet part quietly? That's not reform. That's a public relations stunt.

We've proven that sustained, organized pressure can force Trump's hand. Now, one key strategy is to keep going until we take back the House in 2026 and start holding actual hearings with subpoena power.

Republicans never let up. Ever. When they gained an inch, they took a mile. When they had the upper hand, they pressed harder. And when they lost, they treated it like a temporary setback and kept fighting.

Democrats need to learn that lesson. This is about building long-term power — not just winning the House in 2026. We need the House, the Senate, and the Presidency in 2028. We need state legislatures and governors' mansions. Because the only way to actually fix this — to rebuild accountability, restore the rule of law, and deliver on affordability — is to take power and keep it long enough to make structural change. Minnesota showed us how to create the pressure. Now we have to leverage that pressure into sustainable electoral victories at every level.

The NDTC Strategy

Let's start here: The country is angry. Scared. Frustrated. If you're not talking about this, you should be. These emotions aren't weakness. People want leaders who get it. People want leaders who feel and share their outrage. 

1. Hold them accountable for broken promises. Trump won, promising to fix affordability on day one. Instead, groceries cost more, healthcare costs are skyrocketing, and he's deployed federal agents to terrorize American cities. Make Republicans answer: Is this what you voted for? Are you safer? Can you afford more? Are your problems solved?

2. Message discipline beats policy details. You don't need a 12-point plan. You need one clear message repeated relentlessly: Trump promised solutions. He's delivering chaos. When they talk about immigration enforcement, pivot to results: "Forty dead under ICE, higher grocery bills, and exploding healthcare costs. That's what Trump's priorities look like."

3. Make every vote count against them. Every Republican who voted — and continues to vote — for DHS funding with zero accountability measures owns this. Every single one who stays silent while Noem evades accountability for murder owns this. Connect their votes directly to local chaos: schools disrupted, businesses closed, neighborhoods tear-gassed, families separated. Then ask: What did you get for this? Are eggs cheaper? Is insulin affordable?

4. Don't defend — prosecute. Don't get pulled into defending sanctuary cities or immigration policy. Stay on offense: "You promised to solve our problems. Instead, you're hiding 2 million Epstein files, killing American citizens, and grocery bills are higher than ever. When do we get the solutions you promised?"

5. Remember: we're building majorities, not keeping score. We must build a path for people who see what’s happening and have a change of heart. The voters who are starting to regret their Trump vote? Someone needs to be there to bring them to our side.

The ones who sat out the last election? Someone needs to knock on their door. No one is the enemy. We need to remember that everyone is a neighbor, a colleague, a future Democrat in the goal to defeat decades of GOP investment meant to divide us. Long-term power requires adding voters, not alienating them.

6. Be relentless. Republican officials are terrified that this is becoming a political liability. Good. Keep them terrified. On social. In person. Every town hall, every debate, every media hit: What happened to fixing affordability? What happened to making us safer? What happened to solving problems instead of creating them?

Republicans would never let up if the positions were reversed. We can't either.

The people of Minnesota proved it's possible. Now the rest of the country needs to prove it's permanent.

Kelly Dietrich is the Founder and CEO of the National Democratic Training Committee, which he launched in 2016 to provide free, actionable training for Democratic candidates and activists.