New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman is gushing that leftists in Minnesota were able to “beat” Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and President Donald J. Trump in what some see as a humiliating defeat for the administration.
Even though it already seems to have been forgotten due to the rapidly escalating war in Iran, the rampant “industrial scale” fraud of Somali scammers in Minneapolis invited a dramatically upscaled presence of federal immigration agents in the Twin Cities to conduct deportation operations as angry mobs took to the streets, egged on by Minnesota’s top political figures.
The deaths of two left-wing militants, lesbian “poet” Renee Good and male nurse Alex Pretti, were exploited by Democrats and their media friends to unleash a ferocious public outrage storm leading to the retreat of federal agents from the city as leftists rejoiced that they made Trump run up the white flag.
Friedman, who is a Minnesota native, appeared on this week’s edition of NBC’s Sunday morning flagship “Meet the Press,” where he praised the ordinary citizens who rose up against Trump and immigration hawk Stephen Miller.
“How Minnesota beat Trump.” On @MeetThePress, @TomFriedman of the @NYTimes celebrated how resistance to federal law enforcement “was the most remarkable act of civic courage by men and women not in uniform that I’ve ever seen in this country.” pic.twitter.com/s1Ujg99o7g
— Brent Baker 🇺🇲🇺🇦 🇮🇱 (@BrentHBaker) March 15, 2026
“It was actually the most remarkable act of civic courage by men and women not in uniform that I’ve ever seen in this country,” Friedman said.
“Moms donating breast milk, Dads emptying ATMs to help people who lost their jobs. People driving one another all over the place, strangers, to get their kids to school, because their parents were afraid to go out,” he added.
“But for me, Kristen, it’s part of what I call America First, my version. And my version of America First is not America alone and America selfish, which is Trump’s version. My version of America First is that we be the first country in the world that demonstrates how to make out of many one, when the many is now so radically diverse,” Friedman continued.
“We’re going to rise together, baby, or we’re going to fall together, baby. But, baby, whatever we’re doing, we’re doing it together,” he concluded.
Friedman’s MTP appearance came on the day when his column titled “Why Minnesota Matters More Than Iran for America’s Future” was published by the Times.
My column: How Minnesota Beat Trump https://t.co/ZzJPfZBKZQ
— Thomas L. Friedman (@tomfriedman) March 15, 2026
The columnist called the last year “one of the most depressing of my nearly 50 years as a journalist” as he bemoaned the president and his administration’s destruction of “cherished alliances” with Europe and Canada. He also expressed his disgust at the way that big legal firms and Big Tech have bent the knee to “King Donald” and his “cabinet of clowns” before slobbering all over the Minnesota resistance.
“It was one of the most courageous battles ever fought by American men and women not in uniform. It was led by moms ready to donate their breast milk to strangers and dads ready to drive someone else’s kids to school because the parents, terrified of ICE agents, were too afraid to go out outdoors. It was neighbors ready to hit A.T.M.s to help out neighborhood restaurants and businesses deciding not to open — thus forgoing their income — for fear that masked ICE agents might drag away their cooks or dishwashers or desk clerks,” the best-selling author wrote.
“And the best part was this: At a time when we have a president so shameless that he insists on putting his name on every public building he can, these good Samaritans of all colors and creeds acted without fanfare,” he added, praising the uprising against Trump.
“Here’s some free advice for Trump and Miller: Minnesotans are winter people. Don’t come for winter people in winter. They’re not afraid of the cold. Just the opposite,” Friedman crowed.
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