President Donald Trump and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz reached a detente of sorts after “very good call,” the president reported.
Trump said the two “seemed to be on a similar wavelength” Monday regarding tensions between federal law enforcement and protesters in the state, according to The Hill.
“Governor Tim Walz called me with the request to work together with respect to Minnesota. It was a very good call, and we, actually, seemed to be on a similar wavelength,” Trump posted on Truth Social.
“I told Governor Walz that I would have Tom Homan call him, and that what we are looking for are any and all Criminals that they have in their possession,”Trump added. “The Governor, very respectfully, understood that, and I will be speaking to him in the near future.”
Trump’s message varies significantly of the pair’s previous interactions as the Trump administration blamed Walz for protests against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents.
Tensions increased over the weekend as a video showed a Customs and Border Protection agent shooting demonstrator Alex Pretti in the back. There was an altercation in which Pretti, filming the officers, sought to help a woman being pepper-sprayed before he, too, was pepper-sprayed.
Both Democrats and Republicans have criticized the administration’s initial handling of the killing.
Minnesota officials, including Walz (D), have said they were not allowed to assess or investigate the situation by being shut out by federal agents.
In his post, Trump wrote Walz was happy the president was sending Homan to the state later Monday.
“He was happy that Tom Homan was going to Minnesota, and so am I! We have had such tremendous SUCCESS in Washington, D.C., Memphis, Tennessee, and New Orleans, Louisiana, and virtually every other place that we have ‘touched’ and, even in Minnesota, Crime is way down, but both Governor Walz and I want to make it better!” Trump wrote.
Walz and Trump have exchanged barbs over the presence of ICE officers in the state.
“You’re allowed to decide at any point that you’re not with this anymore. If you voted for this administration — Heck, even if you thought Operation Metro Surge was a good idea, sounded like the thing to do a month ago — you’re still allowed to look at what’s happening here in Minnesota and say, ‘This isn’t what I voted for and this isn’t what I want,’” Walz said at a press conference on Sunday as he addressed Trump supporters.
