The walls are closing in on Tim Walz.
He tried to tough it out but it was no use.
And Tim Walz just made one stunning announcement that left Trump grinning.
Tim Walz throws in the towel on 2026 race
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz announced Monday morning he's dropping his bid for a third term in office.
Walz made the declaration just hours after political insider Blois Olson reported Sunday night the governor met with Senator Amy Klobuchar to discuss his political future.
"In September, I announced that I would run for a historic third term as Minnesota's governor. And I have every confidence that, if I gave it my all, I would succeed in that effort," Walz said in a statement. "But as I reflected on this moment with my family and my team over the holidays, I came to the conclusion that I can't give a political campaign my all."
Walz claimed he was abandoning his campaign so he could focus on fighting the fraud crisis devastating Minnesota.
"Every minute I spend defending my own political interests would be a minute I can't spend defending the people of Minnesota against the criminals who prey on our generosity and the cynics who prey on our differences," Walz stated. "So I've decided to step out of the race and let others worry about the election while I focus on the work."
The governor's decision comes as scrutiny intensifies over how billions in taxpayer dollars disappeared through massive fraud schemes on his watch.
Walz drowning in fraud scandals that cost taxpayers billions
Federal prosecutors revealed half or more of the roughly $18 billion in Medicaid funds supporting 14 Minnesota programs since 2018 may have been stolen through fraud.
"The magnitude cannot be overstated," First Assistant U.S. Attorney Joe Thompson said in December. "What we see in Minnesota is not a handful of bad actors committing crimes. It's staggering, industrial-scale fraud."¹
The scandal exploded into national view when YouTube creator Nick Shirley posted a viral video showing empty daycare centers that received millions in taxpayer funding.
One facility featured prominently in the video misspelled "learning" on its sign while pulling in roughly $4 million in state money despite appearing to operate with no children present.
The video racked up millions of views after Vice President JD Vance and Elon Musk shared it on social media.
President Trump didn't waste time targeting Walz over the fraud disaster.
The Trump administration froze federal childcare payments to Minnesota and dispatched FBI and Department of Homeland Security agents for raids across the state.
House Oversight Chairman James Comer called Walz and Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison to testify before Congress about the fraud crisis.
"Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and Attorney General Keith Ellison have either been asleep at the wheel or complicit in a massive fraud involving taxpayer dollars in Minnesota's social services programs," Comer said.²
The fraud problems extend beyond daycare centers.
Federal prosecutors charged dozens of defendants who allegedly stole $250 million through Feeding Our Future, a nonprofit that falsely claimed to provide meals to needy children during COVID.
Trump unloads on Walz as governor faces calls to resign
Trump amplified pressure on Walz by calling him "retarded" and posting conspiracy theories about the June assassination of Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman.
Over Thanksgiving, Trump unleashed on Walz in a Truth Social post claiming "hundreds of thousands of refugees from Somalia are completely taking over the once great State of Minnesota" and alleged Somali gangs were "roving the streets."³
Five Republican state legislators demanded Walz resign over the fraud crisis.
"People in our districts raise this issue constantly. It is the number one issue we hear about," the Republicans said in a statement. "They want to know why nobody is being held accountable. They want to know when somebody is going to fix it. And they want to know why the governor isn't resigning."⁴
House Speaker Lisa Demuth torched Walz for failing to hold anyone in his administration accountable.
"No one's lost their job," Demuth said. "No one has been publicly disciplined in any way."⁵
Walz tried pushing back against Thompson's claim about $9 billion in stolen funds by accusing the prosecutor of making up numbers.
But the damage was done.
The former Vice Presidential candidate who Democrats once praised as the future of their party couldn't survive the massive fraud scandals that unfolded on his watch.
President Trump weaponized the fraud crisis to expose Democrat failures managing taxpayer money while coddling illegal aliens and radical leftist groups.
Walz's political career is over because he let criminals loot Minnesota's treasury while he played at being a national figure.
Trump forced Walz into retreat by shining a spotlight on the corruption and incompetence that defined his administration.
¹ Joe Thompson, U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Minnesota, Press Conference, December 18, 2025.
² James Comer, "Comer Expands Investigation Into Widespread Fraud Uncovered in Minnesota Government Programs," House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, December 31, 2025.
³ Donald Trump, Truth Social post, November 2025.
⁴ Minnesota Republican State Legislators, Statement on Governor Walz, December 2025.
⁵ Lisa Demuth, Press Conference, December 2025.
