Govs. Tim Walz and J.B. Pritzker told an audience in Minneapolis on Tuesday they believe their criticism of President Donald Trump could result in both of them being arrested by the federal government.
The Democratic governors of Minnesota and Illinois also said they fear the Trump administration will try to use military and National Guard troops to target “blue cities” in “blue states” during the run up to the 2026 midterm elections as a way to suppress Democratic voter turnout.
Pritzker and Walz described Trump as a tyrant and “autocrat” during the 45-minute discussion they had with New York Times political reporter Lisa Lerer. The conversation was part of the Star Tribune’s inaugural “North Star Summit” at the Walker Art Museum.
The event was the inspiration of Star Tribune CEO Steve Grove, who left the Walz administration as a cabinet member in 2023 to lead the state’s largest newspaper. Tickets to attend the event ranged from $300 to $500.
‘Yes. In all seriousness, yes,’ Walz says, referring to belief Trump wants him arrested
Lerer spent much of her time focusing on the governors’ shared concern over the Trump administration’s use of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents and deployment of the National Guard to quell violence in Portland and Chicago in recent days.
“Do you both believe you sincerely could be arrested?” Lerer asked at one point.
“I am asking any of you to come visit me in the gulag in El Salvador,” Pritzker said.
Lerer laughed, and then Walz interjected.
“Yes. In all seriousness, yes,” Walz said, later adding it was not a question of whether Trump wanted to arrest him, but “how easy” it might be to do so.
“And again, if you think you are getting out of this, it’s that old adage, ‘They’re gonna come for immigrants, They’re gonna come for the Democrats, they’re going to come for you eventually.’ Your time will come,” he added.
That came following Walz telling Lerer that his administration has been preparing for the possibility of National Guard deployments to Minneapolis.
Pritzker, who claimed he “is not a conspiracy theorist,” then said he believes Trump will ramp up the use of the military to target “blue cities in blue states” for a “much more nefarious reason that he is not stating,” aside from “being out of his mind and having dementia.”
“Because next year there is an election,” Pritzker said. “And he’s gonna leave a lot of these folks in place. And when we have elections, because he threatened this in 2020, number one, he’s gonna guard the polling places.”
“So you are gonna see soldiers outside your polling place. That’s going to intimidate a lot of people. And especially it’s going to intimidate people who are not Republicans,” Pritzker continued.
Earlier in the discussion, Walz said, “Can we all just acknowledge that none of this is normal?”
“It would be logical for them to come here. We fall into exactly what it looks like they’re trying to target, blue cities in places that he wants to make an impact. You can certainly chill voting in states like Minnesota if you target Minneapolis and St. Paul,” he added.
Walz also said he believes Trump wants to run for a third term.
Pritzker draws Holocaust analogy
Later in the conversation, Pritzker brought up his work to help the state build a Holocaust history museum in Chicago.
“I can tell you that I sat alongside Holocaust survivors for 10 years to build the Illinois Holocaust Museum, and one thing that I learned from them is that you can’t wait,” Pritzker said.
“When you are fighting tyranny, and that is what we are talking about here, you have to stand up and speak out,” he added.
Hank Long
Hank Long is a journalism and communications professional whose writing career includes coverage of the Minnesota legislature, city and county governments and the commercial real estate industry. Hank received his undergraduate degree at the University of Minnesota, where he studied journalism, and his law degree at the University of St. Thomas. The Minnesota native lives in the Twin Cities with his wife and four children. His dream is to be around when the Vikings win the Super Bowl.
