Trump said that Gov. Tim Walz didn’t call in the National Guard in 2020. Walz’s order shows he did.

Former President Donald Trump said during a recent Minnesota rally that it was he — not Gov. Tim Walz — who ordered the National Guard to respond to Minneapolis riots in 2020.

"Every voter in Minnesota needs to know that when the violent mobs of anarchists and looters and Marxists came to burn down Minneapolis four years ago, remember me?" Trump said at his July 27 St. Cloud rally. "I couldn't get your governor to act. He's supposed to call in the National Guard or the Army and he didn't do it. I couldn't get your governor. So, I sent in the National Guard to save Minneapolis."

CNN and WCCO-TV News, a CBS affiliate in Minnesota, debunked a similar Trump statement in 2020. We found that Walz called in the National Guard hours before Trump contacted him, but Walz has faced criticism about his response’s timing.

George Floyd was murdered by a Minneapolis police officer on May 25, 2020. Protests — some peaceful and some violent — erupted soon after video of his death went viral.

The Harris-Walz campaign did not respond on the record to our request for information. Walz’s governor’s office also did not respond to PolitiFact’s email asking about Trump’s claim. However, Walz spokesperson Teddy Tschann wrote in a statement to CNN in 2020 that Walz "activated the Minnesota National Guard at the request of the Mayors of Minneapolis and St. Paul, before he talked to the White House."

Tschann told CNN that Walz was in touch with Trump administration officials during the unrest, including Defense Secretary Mark Esper and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman U.S. Army Gen. Mark Milley. But Walz was the one who put forward the plans for the use of the guard, he said.

WCCO-TV wrote a timeline of Walz’s 2020 actions. 

At 4:04 p.m. CST May 28 in Minnesota, Walz issued an executive order activating the Minnesota National Guard to allow for personnel and equipment to support emergency operations. 

Walz wrote that "feelings of anguish, anger, and disillusionment are justified," however, people engaged in "unlawful and dangerous activity" including arson, rioting and looting were threatening public safety.

Following Walz’s order, Minnesota National Guard Maj. Gen. Jon Jensen said in a social media post at 4:13 p.m, "We are ready and prepared to answer the Governor's request. We are currently in process of assigning and preparing units to respond."

At 10 p.m., Minneapolis police abandoned the department’s 3rd Precinct which was overtaken and burned.

At 10:30 p.m., May 28, Trump watched the scene on television and called Walz, offering to send in the military, WCCO-TV wrote. 

"We have activated more than 500 soldiers to St. Paul, Minneapolis and surrounding communities," The Minnesota National Guard wrote at 10:41 p.m. May 28 in a social post. "Our mission is to protect life, preserve property and the right to peacefully demonstrate. A key objective is to ensure fire departments are able to respond to calls."

Protesters demonstrate May 28, 2020, outside of a burning Minneapolis 3rd Police Precinct in Minneapolis. (AP) 

Featured Fact-check

JD Vance

stated on August 7, 2024 in a news conference

Says Tim Walz said he carried weapons in war, but “he has not spent a day in a combat zone.”

On May 29, Walz told reporters that he had spoken to Trump the night before. "At that point in time, it was in the process of where I said that we were going to assume control of this, that it was unnecessary," he said. Trump, Walz said, had "pledged his support in terms of anything we need in terms of supplies to get to us." 

Trump tweeted near midnight May 29, 2020, that, "I can’t stand back & watch this happen to a great American City, Minneapolis. A total lack of leadership. Either the very weak Radical Left Mayor, Jacob Frey, get his act together and bring the City under control, or I will send in the National Guard & get the job done right ....."

In another post that night, Trump wrote: "These THUGS are dishonoring the memory of George Floyd, and I won’t let that happen. Just spoke to Governor Tim Walz and told him that the Military is with him all the way. Any difficulty and we will assume control but, when the looting starts, the shooting starts. Thank you!" 

When violence continued May 29 and May 30, 2020, Walz called up more troops and, on May 30, he activated the entire Minnesota National Guard. We don’t know whether Trump’s statements influenced Walz to call in more troops, although the governor’s office told CNN in 2020 that Trump had nothing to do with his decisions.

Generally speaking, the president cannot order the U.S. military to perform law-enforcement activities domestically. But there are exceptions, primarily an 1807 law, the Insurrection Act, that allows states to request federal military assistance and allows the president, in limited circumstances, to deploy military personnel in the U.S. without a state’s consent. In general, the U.S. military cannot be used on U.S. soil. That’s been the case since the signing of the Posse Comitatus Act in 1878.

We asked Trump spokespeople for evidence that Walz didn’t call in the National Guard. Republican National Committee spokesperson Anna Kelly pointed to criticism of the timing of Walz’s actions. Minnesota Republicans criticized the governor’s response. 

The Star Tribune wrote in August 2020 that Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, a Democrat, told reporters in an interview that Walz hesitated to send in the National Guard. Frey said he called Walz on the evening of May 27, 2020, asking him to send in the National Guard and Walz said he would consider it. The newspaper obtained texts and emails to verify that narrative.

In his comments to the Star Tribune, Frey said that he asked whether his verbal requests constituted a formal request, and said that the governor's staff confirmed that they did. But the Star Tribune wrote that the governor's office disputed Frey’s portrayal of what had unfolded.

At 10:55 a.m. May 28, 2020, Frey’s office made a written request for the National Guard, the Star Tribune wrote.

Tschann told the Star Tribune that more information was needed to deploy soldiers and that Walz pushed Minneapolis city officials for details and a strategy. 

The state Department of Public Safety contracted with Wilder Research, a St. Paul nonprofit, to review the state’s response. The 2022 review found that the timeliness of the guard’s activation was an area for improvement. It also called for improved communication and coordination with local jurisdictions regarding requests for the guard. The report criticized state and local offices’ actions and said the state and the city of Minneapolis had communicated poorly.

The Republican National Committee also pointed to a May 30, 2020, article in The Washington Post that said Walz acknowledged the Trump administration’s offer for active-duty military. The U.S. military on May 29, 2020, had ordered several police units to be ready for potential deployment if Walz wanted federal assistance, according to a May 30, 2020, CNN report. By then, Walz had called up the Minnesota National Guard.

Trump said that during the 2020 Minnesota riots, Walz didn’t call in the National Guard. "So, I sent in the National Guard to save Minneapolis."

Minneapolis’ mayor, Frey, said Walz initially hesitated to deploy the National Guard on May 27, the day the Minneapolis first requested assistance. But Walz’s executive order shows he called up the National Guard on May 28, before Trump offered federal assistance.

We rate Trump’s statement False.

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