Minnesota Governor Tim Walz sharply criticized President Donald Trump’s defense of widespread tariffs this week, denouncing the idea that government should be operated like a business. Speaking during an interview on MSNBC, Walz labeled the concept of running government as a profit-driven enterprise “fundamentally wrong,” emphasizing that the role of governance is to “improve lives and look toward the future,” rather than seek profits.
Walz argued that Trump’s record as a businessman was itself proof that he was ill-qualified to manage the nation. “He has a proven track record of being an absolute failure,” Walz said.
During his remarks, he also strongly contested Trump’s recent comments suggesting children would simply have to make do with fewer possessions, like having “two dolls instead of 30,” due to tariffs reshaping economic conditions. Walz questioned why government officials should be making these sorts of judgments. “When did government get to tell you how many dolls your child has?” he asked. “It’s insane. It’s a command economy, with him dictating—there’s no free market principles.”
The Minnesota governor expressed particular frustration with tariffs targeting China, as well as Trump’s trade battles with Canada and Mexico—two nations with which Trump had previously negotiated a trade agreement earlier in his presidency. Walz pointed out that Trump’s actions essentially selected winners and losers in the economy, benefiting wealthy interests and leaving regular families worse off. “Donald Trump is now deciding that he gets to do all of that, and the real thing is to enrich the industries he chooses. He’s picking the winners and losers. In this case, billionaires are winning, and the rest of us are losing,” Walz asserted.
In remarks on-air, MSNBC host Jen Psaki noted that Trump’s attitude toward the impact of tariffs on average families seemed “bizarrely flippant” and disconnected from reality.
Walz elaborated further that Trump’s governing style relied primarily on intimidation and threats rather than delivering actual results. “He doesn’t get it done through competency; he doesn’t get it done through results. He gets it done through fear and intimidation,” Walz concluded.
