President Donald Trump reacted Monday to Minnesota Governor Tim Walz’s announcement that he would not seek reelection following mounting reports of fraud in the state.
In a post published to Truth Social on January 5, Trump wrote:
“Minnesota’s Corrupt Governor will possibly leave office before his Term is up but, in any event, will not be running again because he was caught, REDHANDED, along with Ilhan Omar, and others of his Somali friends, stealing Tens of Billions of Taxpayer Dollars. I feel certain the facts will come out, and they will reveal a seriously unscrupulous, and rich, group of ‘SLIMEBALLS.’ Governor Walz has destroyed the State of Minnesota, but others, like Governor Gavin Newscum, JB Pritzker, and Kathy Hochul, have done, in my opinion, an even more dishonest and incompetent job. NO ONE IS ABOVE THE LAW!”
Walz’s decision not to seek a third term has prompted speculation about a possible political strategy involving Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN). According to reports, Klobuchar, whose Senate term runs through 2030, has a “free pass” to run for governor. Townhall columnist Dustin Grage suggested that if Klobuchar were to win the governorship, she could appoint a successor to her Senate seat — potentially Walz himself. Grage described this as a plan to allow Walz to remain in public office without appearing on the ballot.
Allegations of large-scale fraud tied to public benefit programs in Minnesota have plagued Walz’s administration for months. Much of the scrutiny has focused on members of the state’s Somali community, with multiple cases involving daycare and food program fraud, allegedly totaling billions in stolen federal and state funds.
Rep. Ilhan Omar’s (D-MN) connections to individuals and businesses under investigation have drawn attention, including her husband Tim Mynett’s venture capital firm, Rose Lake Capital, which quietly scrubbed multiple advisers’ names from its website in late 2025 as investigations escalated.
The Trump administration’s Department of Health and Human Services responded by freezing childcare payments to Minnesota, citing what it called “blatant fraud” and initiating an audit of the programs involved. Deputy HHS Secretary Jim O’Neill required documentation for every federal payment and launched a national fraud-reporting hotline. The move came after citizen journalist Nick Shirley published videos showing deserted centers receiving public funding, including one that infamously misspelled “Learning” as “Learing” on its signage.
According to federal officials, as many as 85 Somali migrants have been charged in relation to the alleged fraud, with 60 convicted so far. On Monday, CBS News reported that the Department of Homeland Security has deployed roughly 2,000 federal agents to the Minneapolis-St. Paul area in a 30-day immigration enforcement surge. The operation includes agents from Homeland Security Investigations and ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations. Officials have indicated that the initiative may grow in scope as additional fraud cases are developed.
Walz has repeatedly pushed back against the fraud allegations and Trump’s involvement, accusing the president of politicizing the investigations and using them to undermine state programs. He called Trump’s actions “dangerous” and “depraved,” and wrote, “Trump’s using an issue he doesn’t give a damn about as an excuse to hurt working Minnesotans.” He also referred to Shirley as a “delusional conspiracy theorist.”
