Walz Says Trump Compared Minnesota Crackdown to Venezuela Invasion: ‘He Told Me It Was Successful’

Governor Tim Walz (D) said President Donald Trump compared his administration’s immigration crackdown in Minnesota to the military operation that captured Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro. 

Walz spoke with MS NOW’s Jacob Soboroff on Wednesday about his phone call with Trump in the aftermath of Alex Pretti’s deadly shooting at the hands of immigration officers on Saturday.

“Look, I know who I’m dealing with, and I know the reason that he was calling me was he needed something from us,” said Walz, later adding that “the reason he was calling was his poll numbers dropped and it looked bad on TV.”

The former vice presidential candidate recounted parts of his discussion with the president, claiming Trump likened immigration operations in his state to the American military action that captured Maduro and his wife in early January:

WALZ: He told me that he doesn’t understand what’s wrong with Minnesota. “I don’t know what’s wrong with you people.” 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.” And he told me that, “Well, look, Tim, we did this in New Orleans. We did it in Louisville. There’s no problems.” And I said, “You didn’t kill anybody in Louisville or New Orleans. And the operation here looks very different from that.” And and then he told me it was successful in Venezuela.

SOBOROFF: He talked to you about Venezuela?

WALZ: He did. He did. 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. 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.

The impetus for the call between Trump and Walz, which occurred on Monday, centered on the president’s choice to send Border Czar Tom Homan to the state to oversee immigration operations– seemingly sidelining DHS Secretary Kristi Noem in the wake of her inflammatory comments about Pretti.

Trump himself reported that his call with Walz was “very good”– an out of character assesment for the president, who has repeatedly attacked the governor.

“It couldn’t have been a nicer conversation,” Trump gushed in an interview on The Will Cain Show. “And in fact I said to my people, it’s hard to believe that’s the same guy I watch on television or I watch in the debate not doing so well. Because we had a very reasonable conversation, very good conversation.”

Watch above via MS NOW.

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