Trump blames "grossly incompetent" Minnesota for cyberattacks, despite feds investigating Iran's role

Though federal authorities in his own administration are investigating Iran's role in recent cyberattacks on Minnesota's water systems, President Trump on Friday said he blames the state itself.

"We heard in Minnesota there was a cyberattack and they blame it on Iran. I don't think so, I think I blame it on Minnesota because they're grossly incompetent," Mr. Trump said during a cabinet meeting. "There was a cyberattack of 30 water plants and I would blame it on Minnesota and the governor, the corrupt governor of Minnesota. They like to say, 'Oh, it was Iran.' Iran should be so lucky. Iran's got bigger problems than worrying about Minnesota."

In a response on social media, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz said, "Trump knows exactly who is responsible for this attack, and knows that other states were hit too."

"This is what modern warfare looks like, and it further illustrates there's no plan to win a war with Iran," Walz added. "DOGE took an axe to CISA and left the U.S. exposed to cyber attacks. Thankfully, our experts in Minnesota were able to identify the vulnerability quickly and work with local communities to stop it."

Investigators are probing to determine whether the activity is the work of Iranian hackers, according to U.S. officials and sources familiar with the incident. Sources cautioned that since they had not definitively attributed the attack, their assessment could change as additional technical evidence is collected. They are also probing whether the actor could have attempted to appear Iran-based as a way of stirring the pot amid the ongoing U.S. conflict with Iran.

Craig Sixta, chief technology officer at Element Technologies, has 25 years of cybersecurity experience. He says the incidents stand out.

"To have this many municipalities get hit at once, this is fairly unprecedented," Sixta said.

At least seven states were impacted by the cyberattacks, according to the FBI. Minnesota's water supply has not been reported compromised as a result of the attack, Minnesota Department of Public Safety spokesperson Mike Ersnter said. State and municipal officials are investigating, as well as the feds.

"If this is Iran, I think by definition, this is an act of war or terrorism. What they did didn't dramatically affect us. I think the question would be, what would have happened if this wasn't detected right away and they had a week in there? What would they have been able to execute?" Sixta said.

He added that his concern is what would happen if an attack could successfully target a power grid, which he says, could be devastating.

"Geography no longer matters. You don't have to be on someone's shore to attack them. You can be sitting in an office building in Iran, perpetrating attacks anywhere in the world. That's the first concern. How are we going to protect ourselves from people we're never even going to see?" Sixta said.

Democratic U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota said Friday that she's been in contact with National Cyber Director Sean Cairncross about the cyberattacks.

"Director Cairncross and I discussed updated technology, recognizing that resources are an issue for so many communities, not just in Minnesota but across the country," Klobuchar said in a written statement.

Mr. Trump's latest tirade continues a pattern of attacks on Minnesota, which has voted against him in the three presidential elections in which he has run. Past diatribes include racist comments about the state's Somali population, Islamophobic social media posts about kindergarteners and Rep. Ilhan Omar and the use of a slur against Walz.

While Walz has bowed out of Minnesota's gubernatorial race, Mr. Trump has endorsed leading Republican candidate Mike Lindell, who has been a close ally to the president for years. Neither the Republican nor Democratic nomination for the race is settled.