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By Ryan Faircloth

Richard Tsong-Taatarii/The Minnesota Star Tribune

Good morning. Gov. Tim Walz opened his seventh State of the State address on Wednesday night with kind words for Democrats and Republicans in Minnesota, whom he praised for working together to make the state “America’s best place to raise a child.” Walz's bipartisan tone vanished when he turned his remarks to Donald Trump, saying the president has chosen to “destroy the federal government’s ability to help people” and “throw our economy into turmoil.”

“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.”

My colleague Allison Kite and I were there as Walz spoke to a narrowly divided Legislature and positioned himself as both a foil to Trump and a good-faith partner to Republicans at home. The message didn’t resonate with some Republicans, including Rep. Harry Niska, who said the governor’s attempt to offer GOP lawmakers an olive branch was “overshadowed by a quite frankly angry rant about Donald Trump.”

“I don’t think that serves the state of Minnesota,” said Niska of Ramsey.

Walz walked the political tightrope of a governor who's mulling running for re-election while leaving the door open to a possible national bid in 2028. House DFL Leader Melissa Hortman of Brooklyn Park said she thought Walz effectively conveyed his feelings about Trump while committing to work with Minnesota Republicans.

“I think you can’t be alive and an American today and not say something about Donald Trump and the chaos that we’re seeing from Washington, D.C.,” Hortman said.

Walz hasn’t yet said if he will run for a historic third consecutive term as governor in 2026 and plans to make his decision after the legislative session ends. But on Wednesday night, he sure sounded like someone who is running for re-election, discussing his love for the job and wanting to write "the next chapter in our great Minnesota story."

“If we don’t govern responsibly, someone else will get a chance to govern irresponsibly. And I refuse to let that happen,” he said. Read more.

As Democratic U.S. Rep. Angie Craig took her town halls to greater Minnesota, her Republican colleagues in Congress accused her of violating ethics rules. Minnesota's four Republican congressmembers asked the U.S. House committees on ethics and administration to “review possible violations of House rules” by Craig, my colleague Janet Moore reports. The GOP representatives claim Craig is using official House resources to fund the town hall meetings and promote “her political ambitions." Craig, whose campaign raised more than $1.2 million in the first quarter, denied the charge.

“Well, that’s really rich,” Craig declared Wednesday after an hourlong town hall meeting at St. Cloud State University, prompting a standing ovation. “Not a single dollar of taxpayer money is being used here. Now I’m going to ask where the hell they are.”

Republicans here and elsewhere have been forgoing in-person town halls, with many of their constituents unhappy about the Trump administration's erratic tariff policies and mass deportations, among other things. They've instead held "telephone town halls."

GOP U.S. Rep. Tom Emmer held a telephone town hall on April 2 and said more than 32,000 people joined. Emmer answered fewer than a dozen questions.

“I’m here because Tom Emmer won’t show up, and he won’t take your concerns to Washington on Monday,” Craig told the crowd in St. Cloud, which is located squarely within the Sixth Congressional District represented by Emmer. Read more.

Minnesota was among a dozen states that sued the Trump administration on Wednesday to stop its tariff policy. The lawsuit asserts that only Congress has the power to impose tariffs, and it asks for Trump's tariffs to be declared illegal. Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said in a news release that Trump's tariffs are "unlawful and will cause severe harm to families across Minnesota."

“Trump and his billionaire friends can afford the price hike caused by the Trump tariffs, but there are plenty of working-class Minnesotans who can’t," Ellison said. "I will not sit back and allow this president to break the law and take a sledgehammer to the global economy.” Read more.

Walz will speak at the state Department of Education's New American Education Summit on Thursday. He'll also attend a Minnesota State Cattlemen’s Association event and meet with legislative leaders.

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At 10 a.m. — DFL state legislators and school, health care and public sector workers will hold a news conference "to demand a state budget deal that protects Minnesotans from cuts to essential services," according to a news release.

At 11 a.m. — The Minnesota Senate's Subcommittee on Ethical Conduct will meet to discuss Sen. Bobby Joe Champion's request for an advisory opinion on whether he violated the chamber’s conflict-of-interest rules. Champion asked for the advisory opinion after news reports revealed he carried a bill in 2023 awarding $3 million to a nonprofit run by his former legal client. Read more about that here.