In a speech to Minnesota Republican donors Friday night in St. Paul, former President Donald Trump spent much of his time blaming President Joe Biden’s economic policies for inflation and expressed confidence he could win the state in November — despite Minnesota remaining a Democratic stronghold where no Republican has won a statewide election since 2006.

In the hour and 20-minute speech, the former president even went as far as to claim he won Minnesota in 2020, despite losing by 7 percentage points and there being no evidence of electoral fraud in the state. He urged GOP officials to “guard the vote” in Minnesota.

Trump also said he would reverse Biden Administration policies restricting mining in northern Minnesota and reinstitute tariffs on foreign steel to protect domestic production, claiming “the Iron Range came roaring back to life” when he was president.

“On day one we’ll throw out Bidennomics and we will reinstate MAGAnomics,” Trump said. “We will stop the Biden stupid spending spree, we will end his inflation death spiral.”

The ex-president came to St. Paul as his trial for hush money payments to a porn actress continues in New York. He last appeared in court Thursday in a case that’s just one of more than 90 felony charges he faces across several state and federal jurisdictions.

Trump called the charges “bulls—” and “lawfare” waged against him by Democrats.

“I’m being indicted for you. And never forget, our enemies want to take me away because I will never let them take away your freedom,” he said, to cheers and applause.

Trump delivered his remarks to the Minnesota Republican Party’s Lincoln Reagan Dinner, a fundraiser with ticket prices topping out at $100,000 for 10 seats and photo opportunities with the former president.

More than a thousand Trump backers packed a ballroom at the RiverCentre for the speech. They included House Majority Whip and Trump Minnesota campaign chair Tom Emmer, GOP state lawmakers who had stepped away from lengthy end-of-session floor debates, and Mike Lindell, the CEO of Chaska-based MyPillow, who has promoted Trump’s false claims that the 2020 election was stolen from him by Biden.

Ahead of the speech, state GOP Chairman David Hann thanked Trump for visiting, saying the former president views Minnesota as a battleground state. Trump said he views Minnesota as winnable in November and called on Minnesota Republicans to make sure that happens.

“We have all the votes we need, and I’m counting on the chairman and Tom and everybody to make sure that just, just give us an honest count,” said Trump, alluding to supposed electoral fraud. “We’re going to turn this state.”

At a 2020 rally in Duluth, Trump said he wouldn’t return to Minnesota if he lost the state to Biden, but he downplayed his statements in an interview with KSTP-TV this week, saying he believed he had actually won the state.

Minnesota Congressman Tom Emmer, R-6th district, claps at the completion of the national anthem during the Minnesota Republican Party annual Lincoln Reagan Dinner at the the RiverCentre in St. Paul on Friday, May 17, 2024. (John Autey / Pioneer Press)

Trump lost Minnesota to Biden by 7 percentage points and to Hillary Clinton by 2 percentage points in 2016. And no Republican has won Minnesota since Richard Nixon in 1972.

Still, that hasn’t stopped the Trump campaign from keeping its sights on the state, claiming it has a chance of winning in 2024. Recent polling shows Trump and Biden close to tied— with a KSTP poll putting the current president at 44% and the former president at 42%.

In a statement ahead of Trump’s visit, Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party Chairman Ken Martin said the state Republican Party is “tying its fate” to the ex-president in the November election.

“Minnesota voters have repeatedly rejected Donald Trump and his efforts to ban abortion, take away their health insurance, and attack our democracy,” Martin said. Republicans up and down the ballot will have to answer for why they are abandoning Minnesota values and kissing Donald Trump’s ring.”

Trump’s visit is the kickoff for the Minnesota Republican Party’s 2024 convention Friday and Saturday, where state delegates will endorse their pick to challenge U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar and work on changes to the party’s platform.

The Minnesota GOP has faced financial hardship over the last decade, and the amount of cash it has on hand is dwarfed by that of the DFL. The dinner is major fundraising opportunity for Republicans to gather cash for the election season.

Plates at the dinner started at $500, growing to $2,500 for individual VIP seats. Tickets topped out at $100,000 for 10 seats and three photo opportunities with Trump.

It’s not clear how much of the money will go to Trump and the Minnesota GOP, though Emmer said his own campaign is donating $100,000 to state Republicans to aid in their 2024 presidential election efforts.

Emmer noted the Minnesota Republican Party is out of debt for the first time in a decade, but it’s still at a severe advantage compared with the Democrats. The state GOP had a little over $57,000 in its coffers at the end of March, compared with the DFL’s $1.4 million.

Emmer is the chair of Trump’s Minnesota campaign after the former president sank the now-House Majority Whip’s bid to become Speaker of the House in 2023. At the time, the president called him a “globalist RINO” — or Republican in name only.

Despite that, Emmer, who represents Minnesota’s Fifth Congressional District, praised the former president during his Friday visit.

“President Trump’s visit to our great state is a true testament to his grit, determination and fighting spirit,” he said. “No sham trial is going to keep President Trump off the campaign trail.”

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