WH Issues Warning as Feds ‘Surge’ to Minnesota: ‘People Will Be in Handcuffs’

The Trump administration is intensifying a sweeping federal crackdown on alleged large-scale fraud in Minnesota, with White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt warning that arrests are imminent as investigators move aggressively across the state.

Speaking Wednesday on Fox & Friends, Leavitt said the administration is treating the matter as a top priority and made clear that Minnesota’s Democratic leadership will not be shielded from accountability.

“President Trump is not going to let Governor Walz off the hook,” Leavitt said. “This is a top priority for the administration.”

The expanding investigation follows mounting evidence that billions of taxpayer dollars may have been siphoned off through fraudulent childcare, nutrition, and healthcare programs during the administration of Minnesota Governor Tim Walz. Federal authorities are now deploying a coordinated, multi-agency response to uncover the scope of the alleged misconduct and prosecute those responsible.

Leavitt confirmed that the Department of Justice, Department of Homeland Security, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) are jointly leading the effort.

“The Department of Justice, as we speak, is continuing to execute search warrants and subpoenas,” Leavitt said. “The Department of Homeland Security is conducting door-to-door investigations on the ground at potential fraud sites, and they’re also conducting continued deportations of illegal aliens in Minnesota’s communities.”

According to ICE Director Todd Lyons, federal agents have been operating in Minneapolis and surrounding areas “conducting large-scale investigations” after viral footage appeared to show multiple Somali-run daycare centers receiving state funding despite appearing empty or non-operational.

Leavitt stressed that the White House has authorized agencies to use the full weight of federal law to ensure accountability.

“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.”

As the investigations escalate, tensions between federal authorities and Minnesota’s Democratic leadership have intensified. Republican lawmakers are now urging President Donald J. Trump to invoke the Insurrection Act after Gov. Walz suggested he could deploy the Minnesota National Guard in response to federal immigration enforcement actions.

“Invoke the Insurrection Act. Arrest Tim Walz,” Rep. Mary Miller, R-Ill., wrote in a post on X Wednesday evening.

Miller’s statement followed Walz’s warning that he may mobilize the National Guard to counter Trump’s deployment of ICE agents in the state, a move Republicans argue could amount to obstruction of federal law enforcement.

The standoff follows a deadly confrontation earlier this week in which an ICE agent shot and killed 37-year-old Nicole Good of Minneapolis after she attempted to block agents in the street and struck one officer with her vehicle.

Walz publicly criticized the federal presence shortly after the incident.

“We do not need any further help from the federal government. To Donald Trump and Kristi Noem, you’ve done enough. I’ve issued a warning order to prepare the Minnesota National Guard,” Walz said at a press event.

“We have soldiers in training and prepared to be deployed if necessary. I remind you, a warning order is a heads-up for folks,” he added. “Minnesota will not allow our community to be used as a prop in a national political fight.”

Other Republican lawmakers sharply condemned Walz’s remarks, characterizing them as a dangerous challenge to federal authority.

Rep. Rich McCormick, R-Ga., said Walz’s comments left little room for interpretation.

“If he says with that intent to oppose — you’re bringing in military force. Let’s lay that out. I’m going to bring out military force to oppose a federal armed force. What does that sound like to the average person? Kind of like you want to go to war,” McCormick told Fox News.

“I don’t know how else to take that,” he added. “That does not give me any indication other than you want start some stuff. And when I say ‘stuff’ I’m being very polite.”

Rep. Derrick Van Orden, R-Wis., issued an even starker warning, invoking one of the darkest chapters in American history.

“The last time they did that was at Fort Sumter and it started the Civil War,” Van Orden said, referring to the 1861 clash between Confederate and Union forces.

“If a state militia acts against the federal government that is actually a civil war. So that guy needs to shut his d-mn mouth now because he is calling for civil war. [Tim] Walz is an absolute moron,” Van Orden added.

Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., also weighed in, emphasizing the constitutional stakes.

“Someone remind him: Donald Trump is the Commander in Chief. And federal authority supersedes state authority. That’s not an opinion, that’s the Constitution,” Mace wrote.

“What Walz is threatening has a name: insurrection. Mr. President, the law is on your side. Use it,” she added.