White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt is facing backlash online after praising President Donald Trump for endorsing changing the name of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, to National Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or NICE. Leavitt reposted a Fox News article about the pres ident’s endorsement on Monday. President Donald Trump swears in Senator Markwayne Mullin as head of Department of Homeland Security. (Credit: WhiteHouse.Gov Youtube) According to the article, Trump posted a screenshot of a post on X where someone suggested: “I want Trump to change ICE to NICE (National Immigration and Customs Enforcement) so the media has to say NICE agents all day, every day.” “GREAT IDEA!!! DO IT,” the president wrote on Truth Social. ‘The Call Is Coming from Inside the House’: Trump Slams Shooting Conspiracies, But One Split-Second Decision Has People Asking If He Walked Into a Setup The White House later rolled out a campaign championing the idea. The official X page posted an AI image with a man in a “NICE” vest patting a small boy on his back. “ICE NICE AGENTS,” the caption says. “‘National Immigration and Customs Enforcement.’ DO IT!” ICE NICE AGENTS.'National Immigration and Customs Enforcement.' DO IT! pic.twitter.com/ILwl6gVx6j— The White House (@WhiteHouse) April 27, 2026 Dear @WhiteHouse: Where’s the agent’s mask? And is the agent comforting a kid that was just separated from his parents?” wrote U.S. Rep Ted Lieu, a California Democrat with a repost of the image. The name change appears to refer to the negative press ICE agents have gotten over recent shootings and raids. According to the Sahan Journal, more than 70 children were detained by ICE in Minnesota between December 1 and March 10. However, the backlash hasn’t derailed the White House’s rebranding campaign. The White House also shared a 30-second video Monday, showing a man removing a mask and ICE agents helping people at the airport. ICE is NICE. pic.twitter.com/IGykO9CYAp— Homeland Security (@DHSgov) April 27, 2026 But, a new PBS poll found a majority of Americans believe ICE is making Americans less safe, and a growing number believe the agency’s actions have gone too far. The poll was conducted in the wake of the killing of Alex Pretti by Border Protection agents in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in January. He was the second American citizen to be killed by a federal immigration officer in Minneapolis that month. “Brand change won’t make us forget the innocent deaths,” wrote one X user. The Associated Press reports arrests by ICE agents peaked at nearly 40,000 nationwide and were nearly as high the next month. Amid the chaos, Border Protection commander Greg Bovino, who had overseen the crackdown in Minneapolis and other cities, was removed from his post and replaced with White House border czar Tom Homan. Since his takeover, PBS reports that 700 ICE agents have left Minnesota, but about 2,000 remain. However, some Minnesotans told PBS they had seen little change in the number of arrests or in the number of sightings of federal officers. In the weeks that followed, ABC News reports ICE arrests across the country dropped on average by nearly 12 percent. Trump fired Kristi Noem, the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, in early March. She will now serve as a special envoy for the Shield of the Americas, a newly created security initiative. Her reassignment came after a two-day congressional hearing on Capitol Hill in March, during which Noem was questioned by members of both parties about her actions. Al Jazeera’s Alan Fisher was in the room and said Noem was “destroyed under questioning,” citing a series of controversies that made her continued leadership difficult. Trump announced his nomination of Oklahoma Sen. Markwayne Mullin as Noem’s replacement in the Truth Social post announcing her firing, and Mullin was confirmed by the Senate in late March. But since the chaos, the Trump administration’s immigration rhetoric has decreased. Now, some people are wondering if he is starting to get the hint. “Trump is finally looking at the BIGGER picture by renaming ICE to NICE. Economy in the toilet at home, war in Iran exploding because of him, and this is the priority? Peak leadership, folks. Priorities straight out of a clown car,” @1drcole said. “That’s about the extent of his forward thinking, and he probably got that idea while sitting on the toilet,” @Imposter_Edits added. ‘Won’t Make Us Forget’: Donald Trump’s Desperate Rebrand Backfires Spectularly as Furious Critics Zoom in on the AI Image Nobody Was Supposed to Scrutinize  ...read more read less