Govs. Tim Walz and J.B. Pritzker told an audience in Minneapolis on Tuesday they believe their criticism of President Donald Trump could result in both of them being arrested by the federal government.

The Democratic governors of Minnesota and Illinois also said they fear the Trump administration will try to use military and National Guard troops to target ''blue cities'' in ''blue states'' during the run up to the 2026 midterm elections as a way to suppress Democratic voter turnout.

Pritzker and Walz described Trump as a tyrant and ''autocrat'' during the 45-minute discussion they had with New York Times

...which still proudly claims Walter Duranty's Pulitzer prize...
political reporter Lisa Lerer. —

Lerer spent much of her time focusing on the governors' shared concern over the Trump administration's use of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents and deployment of the National Guard to quell violence in Portland and Chicago in recent days.

''Do you both believe you sincerely could be arrested?'' Lerer asked at one point.

''I am asking any of you to come visit me in the gulag in El Salvador,'' Pritzker said.

Lerer laughed, and then Walz interjected.

''Yes. In all seriousness, yes,'' Walz said, later adding it was not a question of whether Trump wanted to arrest him, but ''how easy'' it might be to do so.

Pritzker, who claimed he ''is not a conspiracy theorist,'' then said he believes Trump will ramp up the use of the military to target ''blue cities in blue states'' for a ''much more nefarious reason that he is not stating,'' aside from ''being out of his mind and having dementia.''