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Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz addresses phone call with President Donald Trump
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz addressed his phone call with President Donald Trump over the weekend, saying the two talked about how to help Minnesota get the supplies it needs to fight the coronavirus.
(FOX 9) - President Donald Trump tweeted Monday morning that he had a “very nice” phone call from Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and that the federal government is working on getting the state the “all he needs, and fast.”
“Received a very nice call from @GovTimWalz of Minnesota. We are working closely on getting him all he needs, and fast. Good things happening!” Trump tweeted.
On Friday, Trump tweeted “LIBERATE MINNESOTA!”—a slogan used by several hundred pro-Trump protesters who rallied outside Walz’s home in St. Paul later that day calling for Minnesota to be reopened.
Walz said Saturday’s phone call lasted about 10 minutes. He said he wanted to see how the state could better align with the guidelines the White House released on Thursday for states, cities and counties to start easing coronavirus restrictions.
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Trump-endorsed protest seeks to reopen Minnesota
Several hundred protesters gathered outside Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz’s home Friday calling for the state to be reopened, but Walz said doing so would be “reckless” in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.
“I certainly felt better about it," said Walz on how he felt after the call. “It made me a little more comfortable that we’re not going to get sidetracked away from the main mission.”
The president indicated in his tweet Monday that his administration is working to get Minnesota the personal protective equipment and testing supplies it needs to fight the coronavirus pandemic.
“I am not interested in adjudicating why we don’t have these things now, I’m just interested in how we get them and that’s what I expressed to the president again” Walz said. “I think he echoed that and expressed great desire to continue to work with us.”
In regards to the president’s tweet on Friday, Walz said it is “just not healthy to play it out in a public setting.”
“I did express to the president that that’s not really helpful at this time and if there’s anything that he needs me to do, it would be better to just call and talk and I think we both agreed to that.”
As of Monday, Minnesota has seen 2,470 positive cases of COVID-19 and 143 deaths attributed to the virus.