‘He’s a mess’: Trump says he won’t call Tim Walz after Minnesota shootings
Over 48 hours after a Minnesota state lawmaker was killed and another injured in a “politically motivated assassination”, Donald Trump is still refusing to call the state’s governor, Tim Walz, as a president usually would under the circumstances.
Trump told reporters on Air Force One of Walz, who was Kamala Harris’s running mate:
I think the governor of Minnesota is so whacked out. I’m not calling him.
Why would I call him? I could call and say, ‘Hi, how you doing?’ The guy doesn’t have a clue. He’s a mess. So I could be nice and call, but why waste time?
Here’s the clip.
COLLINS: Have you called Tim Walz yet?
TRUMP: I don’t really call him. He appointed this guy to a position. I think the governor of Minnesota is so whacked out. I’m not calling him … he’s a mess. pic.twitter.com/81o4oSqyR7
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) June 17, 2025
Key events
Trump says he will probably extend TikTok deadline again
President Donald Trump said on Tuesday he would likely extend a deadline for China-based ByteDance to divest the US assets of short video app TikTok.
The president said in May he would extend the 19 June deadline after the app helped him with young voters in the 2024 election. His comments to reporters on Air Force One on Tuesday reiterated that sentiment.
“Probably, yeah,” Trump said when asked about extending the deadline. “Probably have to get China approval but I think we’ll get it. I think President Xi will ultimately approve it.”
US Transport Secretary Sean Duffy said on Tuesday that he wanted civil aviation to return to a 1979 zero-tariff trade agreement, Reuters reports.
Speaking at the Paris Airshow, Duffy said the White House was aware that the US is a net exporter in aerospace, but added that it was dealing with a complicated tariff situation.
Donald Trump has imposed tariffs of 10% on nearly all airplane and parts imports, and in early May the Commerce Department launched a “Section 232” national security investigation into imports of commercial aircraft, jet engines and parts that could form the basis for even higher tariffs on such imports.
Airlines, planemakers and several US trading partners have been lobbying Trump to restore the tariff-free regime under the 1979 Civil Aircraft Agreement.
Donald Trump not seeking ceasefire but wants ‘a real end’ to Iran’s nuclear programme
Julian Borger
Donald Trump has said he is not seeking a ceasefire in Israel’s war on Iran but instead wants to see “a real end” to Iran’s nuclear programme, with Tehran abandoning it “entirely”.
The US president predicted Israel would not let up in its bombing campaign and suggested a decisive moment in that campaign was imminent, though he made clear he expected Israel to destroy Iran’s nuclear facilities without US help.
“You’re going to find out over the next two days … Nobody’s slowed up so far,” he told CBS News, after abruptly abandonning a G7 summit in the Canadian Rockies, saying he was returning to the White House to deal with the conflict.
Speaking to reporters on the way back to Washington, Trump said he was seeking “an end, a real end, not a ceasefire”.
That would involve a “complete give-up” by Iran, he said. Trump’s negotiating position before the Israeli attack was that Iran should stop uranium enrichment entirely, and he blamed Tehran for not accepting that proposal.
Trump also stressed that any Iranian attack on Americans or US bases, something that Iran has threatened, would be met with overwhelming force, saying “we’ll come down so hard, it’d be gloves off.”
Read the full report here:
Here is a video of Donald Trump telling reporters he wants a “real end” to the Iran-Israel conflict, and not just a ceasefire (see earlier post).
US appeals court to rule on Trump’s Los Angeles troop deployment
A federal appeals court will hear arguments on Tuesday on President Donald Trump’s authority to deploy the National Guard and Marines to Los Angeles amid protests and civil unrest, days after a lower court ruled that the president unlawfully called the National Guard into service, Reuters reports.
The lower court’s ruling last Thursday was put on hold hours later by the San Francisco-based 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals, which will consider the Trump administration’s request for a longer pause during its appeal.
US District Judge Charles Breyer in San Francisco had ruled that the Republican president unlawfully took control of California’s National Guard and deployed 4,000 troops to Los Angeles against the wishes of Democratic California Governor Gavin Newsom. Trump also ordered 700 US Marines to the city after sending in the National Guard, but Breyer has not yet ruled on the legality of the Marines’ mobilisation.
Breyer said Trump had not complied with the law that allows him to take control of the National Guard to address rebellions or invasions, and ordered Trump to return control of California’s National Guard to Newsom, who sued over the deployment.
Trump’s decision to send troops into Los Angeles sparked a national debate about the use of the military on US soil and inflamed political tensions in a city in the midst of protest and turmoil over Trump’s immigration raids.
Fired ABC News journalist stands by his post criticizing Trump and adviser
Ramon Antonio Vargas
A journalist who lost his job at ABC News after describing top White House aide Stephen Miller as someone “richly endowed with the capacity for hatred” has said he published that remark on social media because he felt it was “true”.
“It was something that was in my heart and mind,” the network’s former senior national correspondent Terry Moran said Monday on The Bulwark political podcast. “And I would say I used very strong language deliberately.”
Moran’s comments to Bulwark host Tim Miller about standing by his remarks came a little more than a week after he wrote on X that Stephen Miller – the architect of Donald Trump’s hardline immigration policies – “eats his hate”.
“His hatreds are his spiritual nourishment,” Moran’s post read, in part. He added that the president “is a world-class hater. But his hatred [is] only a means to an end, and that end [is] his own glorification”.
You can read the full report here:
Rachel Leingang
A memorial outside the Minnesota house chambers displays a photo of Melissa and Mark Hortman behind a table where people are dropping off flowers, notes, a hard hat, a plaid shirt. Signs in front of it read “in honor of our beloved Melissa”. On her desk, a photo and a bouquet of roses.
On Monday afternoon, the skies darkened, spilling sheets of rain across the Minneapolis suburbs Melissa Hortman represented.
The suspected gunman behind the killings of the Hortmans was captured on Saturday night, but the scars of the crimes will linger much longer. Residents here feel a sense of relief that Vance Boelter was taken into custody, but it comes alongside intense grief, a craving for justice and a sense of resolve.
Boelter was arrested and faces a host of charges over the killings of Melissa and Mark Hortman and the shootings of John and Yvette Hoffman in the suburbs of Minneapolis in the early hours of Saturday. Boelter allegedly dressed as a police officer and drove in a car that resembled a police squad, then fled the Hortmans’ home, leaving behind a list of names, mostly Democratic elected officials and abortion rights activists, menacing the people who he allegedly wanted dead.
The Hoffmans released a statement after the arrest, expressing “deep and profound gratitude” to police and the public for working to find and arrest the man. They said they were “incredibly lucky to be alive” and that “there is never a place for senseless political violence and loss of life”.
You can read the full report here:
Trump administration disbands group focused on pressuring Russia – Reuters
The Trump administration has shelved, in recent weeks, an inter-agency working group it had set up to formulate strategies for pressuring Russia into speeding up peace talks with Ukraine, according to three US officials, Reuters reports.
The effort, which was established earlier in the spring, lost steam in May as it became increasingly clear to participants that Donald Trump was not interested in adopting a more confrontational stance toward Moscow, said the officials.
Despite pledging during his campaign to end the war in Ukraine on the first day of his presidency, Trump in recent months has grown increasingly frustrated that his push has yielded no breakthroughs. He has begun saying that the United States may abandon its efforts to broker peace altogether.
In light of that threat, the working group’s task seemed increasingly irrelevant, added those officials, who requested anonymity.
“It lost steam toward the end because the president wasn’t there. Instead of doing more, maybe he wanted to do less,” one of the officials said.
Donald Trump said on Tuesday he did not plan to call Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, the Democratic vice presidential nominee in 2024, after a weekend shooting left one of the state’s lawmakers dead and another injured, Reuters reports.
Trump, issued a statement after Saturday’s shooting saying such “horrific violence” would not be tolerated in the United States.
But he has declined to offer conciliatory words to Walz as he presides over the response in his state.
Walz was Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris’s running mate last year.
Here are some images coming to us over the wires.
President Trump has returned early from the G7 Leaders’ Summit in Canada, arriving at Joint Base Andrews, in Maryland, US.
Earlier, he was pictured speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One on his journey back to the US.
You can follow developments in the Middle East in our blog.
Trump says he has ‘not reached out’ to Iran for peace talks
Donald Trump said on Tuesday that he had not reached out to Iran for peace talks, “in any way, shape, or form”.
Iran “should have taken the deal that was on the table”, Trump said in a post on Truth Social.
He added: “This is just more HIGHLY FABRICATED, FAKE NEWS! If they want to talk, they know how to reach me.”
Donald Trump said on Tuesday there was a chance of a trade deal with Japan, but said Tokyo was being “tough” and said the European Union was not yet offering a fair deal in trade talks between the United States and the 27-nation bloc.
Speaking to reporters on Air Force One on the way back from attending a meeting of G7 leaders, Trump also said pharmaceutical tariffs were coming very soon and noted that Canada would pay to be part of his “golden dome” project, Reuters reports.
Just to recap on events, Donald Trump and UK prime minister Keir Starmer signed off a UK-US trade deal at the G7 summit in Canada, on Monday.
The US president said Britain would have protection against future tariffs “because I like them”.
The two leaders presented the deal, which covers aerospace and the auto sector.
When asked about steel by reporters, Trump said: “We’re going to let you have that information in a little while.”
Under details released by the Department for Business and Trade, the UK aerospace sector will face no tariffs at all from the US, while the auto industry will have 10% tariffs, down from 25%.
As the pair unveiled the deal, Trump dropped the agreement, leaving Starmer to pick up the papers.
You can read my colleague Peter Walker’s report here:
Donald Trump said he wanted a “real end” to the nuclear problem with Iran, with Iran “giving up entirely” on nuclear weapons, according to comments that were posted by a CBS News reporter on social media platform X.
Trump made the comments during his midnight departure from Canada, where he attended the Group of Seven nations summit on Monday, the CBS News reporter said early on Tuesday.
Trump predicted that Israel would not be slowing its attacks on Iran. “You’re going to find out over the next two days. You’re going to find out. Nobody’s slowed up so far,” the CBS journalist quoted Trump as saying on Air Force One.
Trump said “I may”, on the prospect of sending US Middle East Envoy Steve Witkoff or Vice President JD Vance to meet with Iran. However, he added that “it depends what happens when I get back”, according to the CBS reporter.
The reporter added that Trump said he has not seen any signs of North Korea or Russia being more involved in aiding Iran.
When asked about efforts to help American leave the Middle East, Trump said his administration is “working on that”.
Opening summary: Trump leaves G7 early amid Iran-Israel crisis
Good morning and welcome to our blog covering US politics today with the news that Donald Trump has left the G7 summit in Canada early.
The US president said his departure had “nothing to do with” working on a deal between Israel and Iran, refuting comments made by French President Emmanuel Macron who said the US had initiated a ceasefire proposal.
“Wrong! He has no idea why I am now on my way to Washington, but it certainly has nothing to do with a Cease Fire. Much bigger than that,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform late on Monday.
As Reuters reports, he had earlier urged residents to flee the Iranian capital. “Iran should have signed the ‘deal’ I told them to sign. What a shame, and waste of human life. Simply stated, IRAN CAN NOT HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON. I said it over and over again! Everyone should immediately evacuate Tehran!” Trump wrote on his Truth Social media platform on Monday.
Axios reported the White House is discussing with Iran the possibility of a meeting this week between US envoy Steve Witkoff and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told Fox News that Trump was still aiming for a nuclear deal with Iran, while adding the US would defend its assets in the region.
As he arrives back in Washington, Trump will be facing competing calls between conservative hawks, seeking immediate US strikes on uranium enrichment facilities, and Maga isolationists, who are demanding he stick to his campaign pledge not to involve the US in new overseas wars.
You can read my colleague Andrew Roth’s analysis here:
The Iran-Israel crisis is likely to dominate the agenda today, but in other developments:
-
Trump and the UK’s PM, Keir Starmer, have signed off a UK-US trade deal at the G7 summit in Canada, with the US president saying Britain would have protection against future tariffs “because I like them”. The deal covers aerospace and the auto sector but Trump brushed off reporters’ questions about steel.
-
Ukraine on Tuesday slammed the lack of an “adequate reaction” from the world to Russia’s deadly strikes on its soil, after an attack on Kyiv killed at least 14 people. The Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenksyy had been hoping to speak with Trump on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Canada.
