Minnesota
Trump returning to Minnesota for GOP fundraiser, despite threat to never come back if he lost state in 2020
MINNEAPOLIS — In 2020 President Donald Trump said if he lost Minnesota he would never come back to the state.
“What we’ve done for Minnesota — I lose Minnesota, I’m never coming back,” Trump said. “I don’t care. I’m never coming back.”
Trump did lose, but is coming back for a GOP fundraiser this Friday in St. Paul.
Trump made several campaign visits to Minnesota in 2020, repeatedly saying Minnesota was the state that got away from him in 2016.
That year, despite only one last-minute campaign appearance here, Trump almost pulled off a shocking upset. He lost to Hillary Clinton here by less than 2%.
Minnesota has the longest-running streak of voting for Democrats in the presidential race in the nation. The last time Minnesota voted Republican was 1972 when the state voted for Richard Nixon.
Despite campaigning here several times in 2020, Trump lost by a decisive margin of 7 percentage points to Joe Biden.
Despite saying he would never come back, Trump will be here this Friday night for the Minnesota GOP’s annual Lincoln Reagan dinner, one of the party’s biggest fundraisers. Internal party polling reportedly shows Trump and Biden are closer than expected in Minnesota.
The chair of the Minnesota GOP, David Hann, was a guest on WCCO Sunday Morning at 10:30 a.m.
“The Trump campaign believes that Minnesota is a winnable state and they have begun to focus on winning Minnesota for the Republicans, and I think they are right, I think it is winnable,” Hann said.
In the end, this presidential race will likely come down to the Electoral College. Another critical state for both candidates is Wisconsin, which like Minnesota, has 10 electoral college votes. Both Biden and Trump have already campaigned in Wisconsin, something you can expect to see more of in the five-and-a-half months left until the November election.
You can watch WCCO Sunday Morning with Esme Murphy and Adam Del Rossso every Sunday at 6 a.m. and 10:30 a.m.
The Portland Trail Blazers picked Minnesota Timberwolves assistant Micah Nori as their next head coach on Tuesday, after making the playoffs for the first time in five years under the direction of interim coach Tiago Splitter.
Nori, who spent the past five seasons with the Timberwolves, has interviewed for multiple head coach vacancies, including the Chicago Bulls earlier this month, the New York Knicks last year, and the Los Angeles Lakers in 2024.
Nori, 52, was the lead assistant under Timberwolves head coach Chris Finch while the club made the playoffs each season, won five series, and reached the Western Conference finals in 2023 and 2024. Nori, who began his NBA career in 1998 as a scout with the Toronto Raptors, has also been an assistant for the Raptors, the Sacramento Kings, the Denver Nuggets, and the Detroit Pistons. His son, Dante, is a minor league baseball player in the Philadelphia Phillies organization.
Splitter, who was hired last week as head coach of the Chicago Bulls, was promoted from assistant to interim coach when then-head coach Chauncey Billups was arrested in October in a federal takedown of a sprawling gambling operation. Billups has pleaded not guilty to charges of wire fraud and money laundering.
The Blazers went 42-40 with a five-game loss to NBA finalist San Antonio in the first round of the playoffs, the first postseason appearance and first time they finished with a winning record in five years.
The news comes a day after the Wolves reportedly traded three-time All-Star Julius Randle to the Brooklyn Nets in a three-team trade that sends Nic Claxton to the Chicago Bulls.
The Minnesota Timberwolves are reportedly trading three-time All-Star Julius Randle to the Brooklyn Nets in a three-team trade that sends Nic Claxton to the Chicago Bulls.
Minnesota is sending the 28th pick to the Nets and will be receiving the No. 33 pick that will be made in the second round on Wednesday night, according to a person who spoke to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the deal has not received the required approvals from the league office.
For Minnesota, the trade opens up a slew of financial possibilities. It creates a $33 million trade exception, plus gives the Timberwolves room they can use to re-sign Ayo Dosunmu and target more players in free agency.
Randle, a three-time All-Star, will be moving to his fifth team after stints with New York, the Los Angeles Lakers, New Orleans and the Timberwolves. He averaged 21.1 points this past season, though shot just 39% from the field and 24% from 3-point range in Minnesota’s 12 playoff contests.
Claxton just finished his seventh NBA season, all with Brooklyn. He averaged 11.7 points this past season.
The 2026 NBA Draft begins Tuesday night.
At Senator Westrom’s St. Paul office, visitors are greeted by the classic Minnesota state flag, which the DFL leaders should not have taken away from Minnesotans.
However, local communities have the authority to keep flying it, like many have done, and Senator Westrom encourages communities interested in keeping it to do so.
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