President Donald Trump claimed that the fatal shootings in Minneapolis by federal agents taught him that he may need "a softer touch" during an exclusive interview with NBC News.

“I learned that maybe we can use a little bit of a softer touch, but you still have to be tough,” Trump told anchor Tom Llamas in an interview scheduled to air on Super Bowl Sunday (February 8). “We’re dealing with really hard criminals.

Trump still confirmed plans to expand his immigration crackdown to five more cities with a growing footprint around the country, though declining to mention which cities he was targeting.

“We have five cities that we’re looking at very strongly, but we want to be invited,” he said.

Trump's comments followed the fatal shootings of Renée Good and Alex Pretti by federal agents during ICE protests, which both took place in Minneapolis 17 days apart. Pretti, an ICU nurse, was initially labeled by White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller as a "would-be assassin" who "tried to murder federal law enforcement" and called him as a "domestic terrorist" via FOX News.

Miller later said that the Trump administration was "evaluating" why Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents "may not have been following" protocol. Pretti's death was officially ruled as a homicide by the Heneepin County Medical Examiner, ABC News reported on Monday (February 2).

Pretti, 37, had "multiple gunshot wounds" listed as his cause of death, as well as "shot by law enforcement officer(s)" before being pronounced dead in the emergency room at Hennepin Healthcare last month. The two federal agents who shot the ICU nurse during the incident were identified in government public records obtained by the independent nonprofit newsroom ProPublica.org.

Border Patrol agent Jesus Ochoa, 43, and Border Protection officer Raymundo Gutierrez, were both assigned to Operation Metro Surge when they opened fire on Pretti in Minneapolis on January 24. The U.S. Customs and Border Protection hadn't publicly released the two men's names nor disclosed many facts about the fatal incident at the time of the publication.

Good was shot by an ICE officer inside her SUV last month. Video footage shared by the ICE officer showed Good and her wife speaking to the officers before she started driving -- which many Democrats argued was away from the officer and Republicans argued was toward him -- before shots were fired.

White House border czar Tom Homan announced that he will "draw down" the number of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in Minnesota last Thursday (January 29) following two fatal shootings and ensuing local and nationwide protests. Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison demanded that a "full, impartial, and transparent investigation" be held in connection with the shooting while a federal judge has blocked the Trump administration from "destroying or altering" evidence linked to the incident, Axois reports.

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