Patricia Lopez, Columnist

Why Minnesota Is the White House’s New Punching Bag

December 7, 2025 at 1:00 PM UTC

Patricia Lopez is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering politics and policy. She is a former member of the editorial board at the Minneapolis Star Tribune, where she also worked as a senior political editor and reporter.

Dragged into another fight with Trump.
Photographer: Stephen Maturen/Getty Images

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President Donald Trump is turning the full force of the federal government on Minnesota and its Democratic Governor Tim Walz with a stunning series of Cabinet-level actions.

Trump has not hesitated to marshal the power of the federal government against his political opponents, but what’s happening in Minnesota is much broader in scope.