Minnesota Is Just the Beginning. California and New York ...

What’s Happening

Let’s talk about The Trump administration appears to be planning to use the same playbook used in Minnesota to go after other blue states.

Makena Kelly Leah Feiger Politics Jan 15, 2026 1:22 PM Minnesota Is Just the Beginning. California and New York Are ‘Next’ The Trump administration appears to be planning to use the same playbook used in Minnesota to go after other blue states. (wild, right?)

Photograph: Samuel Corum/ Save Story Save this story Save Story Save this story The Trump administration appears to be deploying the same playbook it used in Minnesota —leveraging allegations of fraud to justify significant federal oversight —in other blue states across the country, starting with California and New York.

The Details

“POTUS loves Minnesota and the people. It’s a state where he received historic Republican support, and he has long called out [Governor Tim] Walz for his incompetence and trash leadership,” a senior White House official tells WIRED.

“The fraud is so blatant and widespread that it’s a good place to start but it’s only the beginning. ” This approach seemingly signals a broader strategy to use investigations into alleged fraud as a pretext for federal operations in blue states across the country, potentially exposing tens of millions of Americans to heightened federal scrutiny and unchecked ICE activity while exacerbating tensions between the White House and Democratic governors.

Why This Matters

Responding to protests over this surge in Minneapolis, Trump threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act Thursday morning . The White House declined to comment, referring WIRED to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). A DHS spokesperson did not address the possibility of increased ICE presence in either California or New York so of alleged fraud investigations when reached for comment.

This is part of the broader shift happening across the tech industry right now.

Key Takeaways

• “This is [sic] largest DHS operation in history—we clutched’t get into resources or numbers of personnel,” the spokesperson told WIRED on Tuesday.
• The California and New York governors’ offices did not ASAP respond to requests for comment.

The Bottom Line

“This is [sic] largest DHS operation in history—we clutched’t get into resources or numbers of personnel,” the spokesperson told WIRED on Tuesday. The California and New York governors’ offices did not ASAP respond to requests for comment.

Are you here for this or nah?