North Dakota
Port: Doug Burgum now campaigning to be Trump's secretary of state
MINOT — “He doesn’t want to be pigeonholed as just an agriculture and energy guy, I’m told, though that’s a natural reflection of where he’s been doing his governing,” I wrote in a column over the weekend, referring to Gov. Doug Burgum’s ongoing campaign to be a part of the Donald Trump administration.
Now that his presidential and vice presidential campaigns are over, having ended unsuccessfully, it’s been widely expected that Burgum will get a cabinet posting. And the most talked about positions, given that he’s the governor of North Dakota, where agriculture and energy are the dominant economic drivers, are Secretary of Agriculture or Secretary of Energy.
But that’s not where Burgum is pointing himself. “Burgum has his eyes set higher, perhaps on one of the top-tier seats,” I wrote. “Secretary of state? Secretary of the Treasury?”
According to a report from Axios today,
“Former President Trump’s two veep runners-up, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, are in the running for secretary of state.”
The other names mentioned in the article for that post are Sen. Bill Hagerty of Tennessee and Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas, though the latter is said to prefer Secretary of Defense.
The State Department does make some sense for Burgum. It does jibe with the themes of his own presidential campaign, which were all about using America’s prodigious economic might — of which energy and agriculture are a not insubstantial part — as a lever in world diplomacy. After all, that’s the game China and Russia are playing.
Of course, for Burgum or any other Republican to get an appointment, Trump has to actually win the election, and that’s looking like a far less certain thing than it did a couple of weeks ago. The polls have shown that Vice President Kamala Harris has closed the deficit incumbent President Joe Biden had against Trump in the polls and some of the latest polling has her
opening a small lead.
This talk of which Republican will get which post in a second Trump administration smacks of some premature drape-measuring.
Still, it wouldn’t be surprising that Trump would be deeply concerned about who staffs his cabinet. Moreso, even, than the typical presidential candidate, given that dozens of people who served in his previous administration, including those who filled top-level positions like secretary of defense and secretary of state, now oppose his reelection.
“Trump constantly tells friends he felt burned by disloyal Cabinet officials and staff last time around,”
Axios reports.
“This time, he wants people he can trust both to implement his policies and never block his will.”
Trump doesn’t want a “team of rivals,” in other words. He wants sycophants and yes-men.
And Burgum,
with all the bowing and scraping he’s done since ending his own presidential campaign,
has positioned himself perfectly for the gig.
GRAND FORKS, N.D. (North Dakota Monitor) — The University of North Dakota is looking to expand its ability to pull minerals needed for electronics by building a refining facility at a coal mine.
University officials are seeking a $50 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy to build a facility at the Falkirk coal mine near Underwood, north of Bismarck.
The project has a total estimated cost of about $100 million, Dan Laudal, executive director and research professor with the UND College of Engineering and Mines said Tuesday during a tour of its pilot extraction facility in Grand Forks.
The tour provided UND the opportunity to show off its work to Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment Michael Duffey and Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D.
Cramer, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said the United States needs to develop domestic sources of the critical minerals needed for electronics and the development of artificial intelligence to compete with China.
Duffey said maintaining a technological advantage is key to national security and the department has a need for high-value critical minerals.
“I’ve got a team of folks that know this industry like the back of their hand, know what’s emerging in terms of capability,” Duffey said. “I’m going to make sure that I go back and tell them what I saw here, and that we’ve got awareness of North Dakota, what North Dakota can offer for the department and the nation.”
UND is operating its rare earth pilot plant in what was a coal-fired power plant that served the city of Grand Forks.
Laudal said it brings in about 10 tons of lignite coal per day from western North Dakota. Critical and rare earth minerals are often found bound to coal.
“Ten tons a day of coal on the back end, we maybe get a few kilograms per week of concentrated product,” Laudal said.
That product is a mix of 17 different critical minerals that could be sold to be further separated into individual minerals and then used in electronics.
Laudal said the pilot plant is about 2% the size of a full-scale commercial operation. The proposed commercial demonstration site at the Falkirk mine would be about 10% the size of a full-scale facility.
The Department of Energy grant would help secure other investment, which likely would include state support.
David Straley of North American Coal was on the tour and said the state’s coal industry is on board.
“Lignite is one of the best possible resources for this type of project,” he said.
Using North Dakota’s existing coal mines cuts the cost of developing critical minerals.
He said the coal that remains after removing critical minerals makes an even better fuel.
If UND obtains the grant, Laudal said it may take 18 to 24 months for design and construction and it could be operating and making money by 2029.
Laudal estimated it would take 20 to 30 workers to operate the facility.
In addition to being successful commercially, he said a goal would be to create a model that could be replicated elsewhere.
Cramer and Duffey will visit Minot on Wednesday. Grand Forks and Minot are both home to Air Force bases.
But Cramer said the critical minerals plant tour was the most important stop of the trip.
“The adversary has a supply chain,” Cramer said of China’s critical mineral development. “At this point, we are in a hurry as a nation, rightfully so, to bring more, more rare earth elements, and everything that’s connected to that, domestically.”
N.D. (Valley News Live) – The North Dakota State Patrol is reporting one death, several injuries and multiple DUI arrests over the holiday weekend.
From Saturday through midnight Monday, troopers responded to nine crashes statewide, according to information provided by the State Patrol. Those included one fatal crash, three crashes with minor injuries and five crashes that resulted only in property damage.
During the same period, troopers conducted 49 highway assists and arrested 10 drivers on suspicion of driving under the influence.
Copyright 2026 KVLY. All rights reserved.
Boating in Low Water Years (Lake Sakakawea)
District Game Warden Kylor Johnston
If you’ve spent any time around Lake Sakakawea over the years, you know the lake is always changing. Some summers the water creeps up towards parking lots making a nice short walk from the ramp to your truck. Other years, boat ramps stretch farther down than anyone remembers.
This year is shaping up to be one of the lowest water years we have seen since 2008. The goal of this article is not to scare boaters, but hopefully to encourage boaters to use caution to avoid some preventable boating incidents.
Low water isn’t necessarily dangerous, but it does create conditions that can catch boaters off guard, especially people unfamiliar with a particular ramp or section of the lake. Lake mapping is not perfect on any lake and is especially true for Sakakawea.
One issue that may show up this year is where you safely drove your boats last year does not mean it will be safe this year. Hazards typically hidden well below the surface can become a problem quickly when lake levels drop. Rock piles, sandbars, submerged trees and old structures may sit much closer to the surface than expected. Lake points that were underwater last year now are extending farther into the bays.
Low water can also create congestion at usable ramps. Some ramps become difficult to use, funneling more traffic into fewer locations. That usually means longer waits, crowded docks and more opportunities for accidents when people get impatient.
A little patience at the ramp goes a long way.
Lake Sakakawea will still provide plenty of great fishing and boating opportunities this summer. Boaters simply need to slow down a little, pay attention to changing conditions and remember that the lake may not look the same as it did a year ago.
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