MINNEAPOLIS — Governor Tim Walz said he’s prepared for the possibility that President Trump will send federal troops to Minnesota to take over policing. The Walz message: “Better not.” Walz spoke at a Minneapolis Star Tribune-sponsored event with Illinois Governor JB Pritzker. Walz accused Trump of abusing the power of his office by sending combat-equipped troops into Chicago and other Democrat-controlled cities, supposedly to solve “rampant crime” although data doesn’t support Trump’s rationale. Walz said his message to Trump: “You do your job, and we’ll do ours. And the fact of the matter is, we’re doing ours.” As a state with elected Democratic leadership, Walz said he recognizes that Minnesota may be in Trump’s crosshairs. Also: Trump has a particular distaste for Walz, who campaigned against him in the 2024 election. About federal troops in Chicago this week with armored vehicles and lethal weaponry, Illinois Governor Pritzker said he wasn’t sure exactly how Trump’s military occupation will end: “What we know is that it is striking fear in the hearts of everybody in Chicago.” Pritzker, a Democrat, noted that Chicago’s crime rate has been declining and is manageable locally. This week Trump also sent troops into Democrat-dominated Portland in Oregon. He described the city as under siege and “war-ravaged” and “burning to the ground. These were lies. He’s done it also in Los Angeles, Washington and threatened to do so in New York, New Orleans and Memphis. He has called for local Democratic leadership to be jailed.
