(NewsNation) — During a New Year’s Eve event, President Donald Trump said fraud in Illinois, California and New York is “worse” than in Minnesota.
Speaking to supporters, Trump praised Rep. Tom Emmer, R-Minn., for his leadership and spoke about allegations in Minnesota, where 92 people have been charged with defrauding federally funded social service programs.
Agents from the Department of Homeland Security have been on the ground in Minneapolis following a viral video from a conservative YouTuber alleging widespread fraud involving day care centers.
In response, the Department of Health and Human Services announced it would freeze some child care funds for all states.
The Trump administration has slammed Minnesota’s Democratic Gov. Tim Walz, and the president is now suggesting other blue states have a similar issue.
“That’s peanuts,” he said, regarding Minnesota. “California is worse, Illinois is worse and, sadly, New York is worse — a lot of other places. So, we’re going to get to the bottom of this.”
New York, Illinois and California are three states whose Democratic governors have publicly pushed back against the Trump administration.
Trump recently abandoned plans to deploy the National Guard in Chicago and Los Angeles after the Supreme Court ruled he could not deploy forces in Chicago over the objection of Illinois leaders. However, the president suggested troops could be deployed to those cities at a later date.