President Donald Trump said on Twitter Monday morning that he received a “very nice call” from Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.
“We are working closely on getting him all he needs, and fast. Good things happening,” Trump said.
Received a very nice call from @GovTimWalz of Minnesota. We are working closely on getting him all he needs, and fast. Good things happening!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 20, 2020
The president’s comments come just days after he tweeted his support for the hundreds of protesters who gathered outside Walz’s home Friday afternoon to call for an end to the state’s stay-at-home order.
“LIBERATE MINNESOTA,” the president wrote on Twitter Friday.
LIBERATE MINNESOTA!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 17, 2020
Walz said during his Friday press briefing that he attempted to contact the president, but wasn’t able to reach him.
“I just don’t have time to try to figure out why something like that would happen. I just have to lead from Minnesota’s perspective,” he said.
The governor revealed during his Monday briefing that the president called him back Saturday night and said the two had a “very good and long conservation.”
Walz has previously expressed some frustration with not being able to obtain personal protective equipment (PPE) and testing materials from the federal government, but said Monday that he’s “not interested in adjudicating why we don’t have these things.”
“I’m just interested in how we get them. And that’s what I expressed to the president again. I think he echoed that and expressed a great desire to continue to work with us,” he said. “I think it just shows, and I’m convinced of this, that Minnesotans and Americans in general, they don’t need to see us fight.”
Walz said he left the conversation with the president “believing that we are aligned, that we are getting this right.”
“I said I understand the frustrations but I did express to the president that I’m not sure that’s really helpful at this point in time and if there’s anything that he needs me to do, it would be better to just call and we would talk and I think we both agreed to that,” he continued. “It’s just not healthy to play it out in a public setting where there’s not a real back and forth.”
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Anthony Gockowski is managing editor of The Minnesota Sun and The Ohio Star. Follow Anthony on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
