Trump's 'greatest fear' won't let him back down on ICE — and marks his end: Nobel winner

Donald Trump's administration will not back down following the shooting of Alex Pretti, a Nobel Prize winner has claimed.

The president and his department heads were seemingly unmoved by the death of Pretti, a 37-year-old nurse who was killed by ICE agents during a protest in Minneapolis. Trump and his admin have claimed Pretti was threatening the lives of officers and had been carrying a gun at the time of his death.

Paul Krugman, the award-winning economist, believes these claims and actions from the Trump admin are a sign they will not back down for fear of humiliation.

Writing in his Substack, the economist claimed, "Why will the brutality continue? Because these people are malignant narcissists, whose lives are all about displaying dominance.

"The sheer horror of what they’ve already done makes it impossible for them to change course, because climbing down after you’ve murdered people and lied about it would be humiliating — and humiliation is their greatest fear."

Krugman went on to suggest this fear will build over the next few months and that it could affect the midterm elections. He added, "The big question is what happens when the administration’s determination to keep terrorizing the American people collides with public outrage.

"One safe prediction is that Trump will try to subvert the November elections: in a clear example of a shakedown, Bondi has demanded that Governor Tim Waltz hand over the Minnesota voter rolls."

Krugman has since suggested this could be a tipping point from which Trump's credibility does not improve. He wrote, "The murder of Alex Pretti may be a tipping point, the moment at which skepticism about Trump’s attacks on immigrants and those who protect them turns into horror and disgust.

"But such a tipping point is only possible because Trump and his officials have spent a year betraying the public’s trust, again and again. This has taken a huge toll on Trump’s credibility".