Greg Bovino and His SS-Like Greatcoat Are Leaving Minnesota — Is He Donezo or Just Demoted?

In October 2025, Greg Bovino was elevated to the position of commander-at-large of the U.S. Border Patrol, a position that did not exist. Bovino is a nearly 30-year veteran of the Border Patrol and was previously chief patrol agent of the El Centro sector, per WTTW. While in Chicago with ICE and Border Patrol agents, Bovino described the protests as chaotic. His tactics, which include breaking windows and tear-gassing protesters, have been heavily criticized.

Bovino arrived in Minneapolis, Minn., following the fatal shooting of Renee Nicole Good by ICE agent Jonathan Ross in early January 2026. Less than three weeks later, federal agents in the same city killed an ICU nurse named Alex Pretti while he was filming an arrest. Both times, Bovino had only harsh words and lies to say about the victims. Three days after Pretti was murdered, Bovino was replaced by border czar Tom Homan. Was he demoted? Here's what we know.

A DHS official and two people close to the Bovino situation told The Atlantic the former U.S. Border commander-at-large is returning to his old job in El Centro, Calif. Technically, this is a demotion, but his position was always categorized as temporary.

This decision came after President Donald Trump spoke with Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey. "Governor Tim Walz called me with the request to work together with respect to Minnesota," wrote the president in a post to Truth Social. "It was a very good call, and we, actually, seemed to be on a similar wavelength." In the same post, Trump announced his plan to send Homan to Minnesota. The president said both he and Walz are happy with this change in leadership.

Walz echoed the president's sentiments in a post to X (formerly Twitter). "I had a productive call with President Trump earlier today," said the governor. "I told him we need impartial investigations of the Minneapolis shootings involving federal agents, and that we need to reduce the number of federal agents in Minnesota." Trump evidently said he would speak with DHS about the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension conducting their own independent investigation.

Bovino wasn't alone in spreading vicious lies about Good and Pretti. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem was also in the mix. Two unnamed sources also told The Atlantic that Noem and her alleged boyfriend, MAGA operative Corey Lewandowski, could be on the chopping block. Like an episode of The Apprentice, they might be fired.

According to The New York Times, Trump had a two-hour meeting in the Oval Office the evening of Jan. 26 that included Noem and Lewandowski. A source told the outlet their jobs were not at risk, but the president is clearly concerned about the optics. Also in attendance were Trump's chief of staff Susie Wiles, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, and Communications Director Steven Cheung. It's worth noting that the immigration-obsessed Stephen Miller was not invited.