Tim Walz Slams Trump Over Tariffs, DOGE Department In Blistering Speech, Calls Him A 'Man Who Wants To Be A King'

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, in his State of the State address on Wednesday, condemned President Donald Trump, accusing him of exerting the power of the federal government for personal gain and undermining fruitful leadership.

What Happened: Walz criticized Trump's management of tariffs and the controversial Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). He called Trump's actions "small, weak, and petty," adding, "It takes the awesome power of the federal government and turns it into a crude weapon, wielded by a man who wants to be a king."

Walz has previously clashed with Elon Musk, a close aide of Trump, over the decline of Tesla Inc.’s stock prices.

See Also: Trump Says Tariffs Could Replace Income Tax: Experts Warn The Math Doesn’t Work

Why It Matters: The speech was Walz's first State of the State since his defeat as part of the Democratic presidential ticket last year. It comes as he tours Republican-held districts across the country, using town halls to promote his critical views of the Trump administration.

In response to Walz, Republican leaders pushed back, accusing him of diverting attention to Washington instead of concentrating on the urgent work still to be done in Saint Paul.

“It was really unfortunate that while there was maybe not quite an olive branch, but maybe, a few buds of an olive tree given by the governor, most of it was overshadowed by a quite frankly angry rant about Donald Trump,” said Rep. Harry Niska, R-Ramsey, to CBS News.

Meanwhile,

U.S. stock futures slipped Thursday morning, giving back gains from a two-day rally, as investor sentiment soured amid conflicting signals on trade policy. Premarket futures for major benchmark indexes traded lower after President Donald Trump suggested a potential deal with China on Tuesday evening, only for Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to dismiss any plans to unilaterally reduce tariffs on Chinese imports the following day. Adding to the uncertainty, China publicly rejected Trump's claims of ongoing trade talks.

The SPDR S&P 500 ETF (NYSE:SPY) fell 0.51% to $532.67 and the Invesco QQQ Trust ETF (NASDAQ:QQQ) dropped 0.71% to $451.33 in Thursday's premarket trading, per Benzinga Pro data.

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