White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said the Trump administration has significantly intensified federal enforcement actions in Minnesota, citing what she described as years of fraud allowed to persist under Gov. Tim Walz’s leadership.
Leavitt said the administration’s actions span multiple federal agencies and include criminal investigations, funding cutoffs, and immigration enforcement.
“Governor Walz is completely incompetent. He always has been, and President Trump has long called him out for his incompetence and his poor leadership in the great state of Minnesota,” Leavitt said.
Leavitt credited independent journalist Nick Shirley with bringing national attention to the issue, saying his reporting played a key role in accelerating federal involvement. “I want to commend Nick Shirley for his incredible video in real journalism that went viral this past week,” she said.
“He epitomizes what New Media looks like and that’s exactly why we, at the White House, under President Trump’s direction, have embraced new media journalists like Nick Shirley.”
According to Leavitt, Shirley’s work has been recognized directly by the administration.
“We’ve welcomed them in to the White House press pool. We invited Nick Shirley to brief the President of the United States at an Antifa roundtable earlier this year,” she said.
Leavitt said the alleged fraud in Minnesota has been under scrutiny by the Trump administration since the beginning of the president’s term, but that recent reporting led to a surge in federal resources.
“This fraud in Governor Waltz’s state in Minnesota is something the Trump administration has been working on since day one,” she said.
“And since Nick Shirley’s journalism really brought this issue further to light, we have surged resources across the board to the state.”
She emphasized that enforcement actions are ongoing and escalating.
“So I want your audience to understand this is a top priority for the administration,” Leavitt said.
Leavitt said the Department of Justice is actively pursuing criminal cases.
“The Department of Justice, as we speak, is continuing to execute search warrants and subpoenas,” she said.
“People will be in handcuffs as a result of the fraud that Governor Walz has allowed to occur for the for many, many years.”
She also detailed Department of Homeland Security operations currently underway in Minnesota.
“The Department of Homeland Security is conducting door to door investigations on the ground at potential fraud sites,” Leavitt said.
“And they’re also, of course, conducting continued deportations of illegal aliens in Minnesota’s communities.”
Leavitt said the administration is also prepared to use additional legal tools when warranted.
“We’re also not afraid to use denaturalization,” she said.
“That’s a tool at the President and the Secretary of State’s disposal, and it’s one this administration has previously used before.”
She said financial pressure is being applied through federal funding restrictions.
“I know the Health and Human Services Department has also announced we are cutting off all childcare funding to the state of Minnesota until we get to the bottom of this fraud,” Leavitt said.
Leavitt added that multiple agencies are reviewing state benefit programs. “The Department of Labor is investigating their unemployment insurance program,” she said.
“The Department of USDA Agriculture Secretary Rollins, weeks ago, sent a letter to Governor Walz, demanding he turn over every single name of SNAP recipients on the books in Minnesota.”
According to Leavitt, those actions prompted legal pushback from the state.
“And the Minnesota Attorney General actually sued the Trump administration for that,” she said.
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