St. Paul, Minnesota — Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz said Wednesday that President Donald Trump compared the administration’s recent federal immigration crackdown in Minnesota to a U.S.-backed operation in Venezuela, a comparison Walz described as troubling and confusing given the circumstances in the state.
Speaking with MSNBC correspondent Jacob Soboroff, Walz recounted a phone call with Trump earlier this week in which the president criticized Minnesota’s response to federal immigration enforcement actions. Walz said Trump told him he did not understand “what’s wrong with Minnesota,” prompting the governor to push back by highlighting the state’s quality of life and governance.
According to Walz, Trump referenced previous federal operations in U.S. cities such as New Orleans and Louisville, claiming they were carried out without incident. Walz responded by noting that, unlike those operations, the enforcement actions in Minnesota resulted in the deaths of two U.S. citizens, Alex Pretti and Renee Good, during encounters with federal immigration agents in Minneapolis.
Walz said Trump then pointed to what he described as a “successful” operation in Venezuela that removed President Nicolás Maduro from power, drawing a parallel that Walz found inappropriate. The governor said he was struck by Trump’s apparent willingness to equate a foreign military operation with domestic law enforcement activity in an American state.
Walz also told Soboroff that Trump appeared motivated by political considerations, saying the president contacted him because of declining poll numbers and negative media coverage. Walz added that Trump did not mention either Pretti or Good by name during the call, despite the deaths being central to public concern in Minnesota.
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