Minnesota Governor Expresses Bewilderment Over Trump's Venezuela Comparison
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz stated on Wednesday that he was left bewildered during a phone conversation with President Donald Trump. The president drew a direct comparison between the ongoing immigration enforcement actions in Minneapolis and the United States military invasion of Venezuela earlier this year.
A Bizarre Exchange on Federal Operations
Governor Walz detailed the unusual exchange in an interview with MSNBC's Jacob Soboroff. According to Walz, President Trump attempted to justify the controversial deployment of federal officers in Minnesota by referencing similar operations conducted in other American cities.
"He told me that he doesn't understand what's wrong with Minnesota. 'I don't know what's wrong with you people,'" Walz recounted. "I said, 'Nothing's wrong with us, Mr. President. We're one of the most effective states and one of the best places to live.'"
The conversation took an even stranger turn when Trump cited operations in New Orleans and Louisville as examples of success. Walz pushed back, noting a critical difference. "And I said, 'You didn't kill anybody in Louisville or New Orleans. And the operation here looks very different from that.'"
An Unexpected Reference to Venezuela
It was at this point that President Trump introduced the comparison to Venezuela, which left Governor Walz particularly perplexed. "And then he told me it was successful in Venezuela," Walz said.
When Soboroff asked for clarification, "He talked to you about Venezuela?" Walz confirmed, "He did." The governor expressed his confusion over the relevance of the topic to the situation unfolding in his state.
"I'm not sure what gave him the indication that at this point in time, what's happening to my state, that I'm interested in Venezuela," Walz stated. "But he told me how well that went. Which really was strange to me was he saw an operation in Venezuela against a foreign nation in the same context he saw an operation against a U.S. state and a U.S. city."
Context of the Venezuela Invasion and Minneapolis Tensions
The U.S. military operation in Venezuela occurred in early January, resulting in the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife. The ousted leader faces charges including narco-terrorism, to which he has pleaded not guilty.
Reports from The Washington Post indicated that the invasion led to approximately 75 fatalities, involving both Venezuelan and Cuban security personnel.
Meanwhile, the city of Minneapolis is grappling with profound grief and outrage following the deadly shootings of protesters Renee Good and Alex Pretti by immigration enforcement agents. These incidents have been widely condemned, fueling significant public anger.
Amid growing criticism of the administration's portrayal of the victims, President Trump initiated the phone call to Governor Walz. According to Walz, the president suggested that the two leaders "seemed to be on a similar wavelength," a claim that stands in stark contrast to the governor's account of their fundamentally divergent perspectives on the crisis.
