For about a 12-minute stretch during his seventh “State of the State” address at the Minnesota Capitol on Wednesday, it seemed as if Gov. Tim Walz would only talk about President Donald Trump.
The two-term Democrat’s speech before a joint convention of the state House and Senate lasted just over 20 minutes.
He dedicated the middle half to juxtaposing his leadership as governor with that of Trump as president—whom he referred to as a “man who wants to be king” and said he has “chosen to tear up the values that once made America the shining light of the world.”
“But if you listen to anything that comes out of [Trump’s] mouth, one thing has become clear,” Walz said. “He’s just plain confused about how the world really works for working people.”
WATCH: Gov. Tim Walz attacks President Trump and Elon Musk at his State of the State address
"He's just plain confused about how the world really works … It's small, it's weak and it's petty." pic.twitter.com/D4SVhdYise
— Alpha News (@AlphaNewsMN) April 24, 2025
Walz did save a few moments at the conclusion of his address to discuss the state of affairs in Minnesota where he described his $66 billion budget proposal as an example of “governing responsibly.”
He bragged up his proposed 0.075% cut to the state sales tax rate as an “unprecedented tax cut for working people.” But he downplayed his proposal to make Minnesotans pay state sales taxes for the first time on banking, legal, brokerage and accounting services, which are currently exempted.
And Walz didn’t mention his proposal to eliminate more than $223 million in nonpublic pupil aid from the education budget over the next four years. Nor did he mention that he signed a budget into law two years ago that increased state spending by 38 percent, virtually wiping out an $18 billion surplus, that has now turned into a projected $6 billion deficit.
“This budget was not written to please everyone, it was written to bring everyone to the table,” Walz said, alluding to the fact that he knows he will need buy-in from Republicans in the state House, who are deadlocked with Democrats at 67 members a piece. Walz, the House and the Senate have until May 19 to come to an agreement on a budget. If they can’t finish their work by that deadline, a special session would need to be called.
Brief bipartisan shoutout, then more derision of Trump
During his opening remarks, Walz painted a positive portrait of his tenure as governor, where he reflected that “over the last six years Minnesotans have been writing a story about what it means to govern like good neighbors, with decency and common sense, but also with courage and ambition.”
He even offered a bipartisan shoutout to Republican legislators in attendance, including Speaker of the House Lisa Demuth, who announced his arrival in the House chamber just moments earlier.
About half of the 200-plus elected officials who filled the chamber were Republicans. But amid that split audience, Walz then leaned into rhetoric that has matched the mood of his “town halls” he has put on the last several weeks in Iowa, Wisconsin, Texas and Ohio.
“The truth is, this current administration in Washington, they’re not forever,” Walz said. “These small petty men will disappear into the dustbin of history, and when they do, there will be an opportunity and an obligation to actually rebuild government so that it works for working people.”
Walz said he’s ready for Republicans and Democrats to work together over the next four weeks to finalize a budget.
“This is how government is supposed to work,” Walz said. “It’s not supposed to be chaos and destruction.”
‘Angry rant’
House GOP Leader Harry Niska, R-Ramsey, said Walz’s attempts at bipartisanship were overshadowed by his “angry rant about Donald Trump.”
“What the governor should have been doing is an honest reckoning of where we are at with the costs of the one-party Democrat control that have gotten us to this place. Spending an entire $18 billion surplus, which is putting us in a looming $6 billion deficit,” he said during a press conference after the governor’s speech.
“And unfortunately what we saw tonight is a continuation of what we’ve seen from Democrats here, where instead of talking about those issues in Minnesota and those challenges in Minnesota, they constantly want to engage in a Trump deflection strategy, where everything is the fault of Donald Trump or folks outside the state of Minnesota.”
Americans for Prosperity-Minnesota State Director Jake Coleman called the governor’s address “a poor charade of leadership by a politician who has barely set foot in the state capitol this year.”
“While our government has been veering toward another budget crisis thanks to his party’s inaction, Walz has been busy chasing headlines in other states on his tone-deaf town hall tour.”
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.
