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Daily Caller

Tim Walz And The Hidden Story Of Twin Metals

Published

10 months ago

6 minute read

From the Daily Caller News Foundation

By Mandy Gunasekara

 

The media is now working overtime to rewrite the background of the Harris-Walz ticket. With all eyes shifting to Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, they have their work cut out.

Get ready for a new, refined version of Walz, where he is cast as a moderate, pro-worker Midwesterner — meant to balance out Kamala’s left-wing liberalism. But Walz is not that and American steelworkers, their families and the communities surrounding the Twin Metals Mine of Northeast Minnesota know this all too well.

Northeastern Minnesota is blessed with a plethora of critical and strategic metals that are key components to our modern life. There is an area referred to as the Duluth Complex that, according to the U.S. Geological Survey, is home to the largest undeveloped deposits of nickel, cobalt and platinum group minerals (PGM) in the world.

The Twin Metals mine in particular is positioned to be a state-of-the-art underground operation within the Duluth Complex using advanced and precise methods of extraction that could deliver these much-needed metals to growing markets.

Given that these metals are key components to cell phones and cars — both gas-powered and electric — as well as solar panels and windmills, the location of these minerals here in the United States should be good news. This should especially be true for an administration like Biden-Harris that is hell-bent on restructuring our entire utility and vehicle industries, so they are more “green.”

From a practical perspective, this type of restructuring will require an immense amount of the minerals that are located at, and very accessible in, the Twin Metals mine. Globally, one estimate suggests that to reach electrification goals the world will need to produce the same amount of copper in the next 25 years as humanity has produced in the last 5,000.

Unfortunately, the Biden-Harris administration not only cancelled two long-standing mineral leases at the Twin Metals mine, but they also imposed a 20-year moratorium on the surrounding area. This decision imperiled the 750 direct jobs and 1,500 spinoff jobs in the surrounding community that the mine would have supported.

Many of these jobs were for United Steelworkers who were set to buildout and operate the $1.7 billion mine. As often as the Biden-Harris administration talked about creating green energy jobs, they took numerous actions that cancelled the ones that actually did exist.

Walz oversaw the entire debacle. And when the Twin Metals mine and local jobs organizations asked for a lifeline in the aftermath of the Biden-Harris cancellation, he answered it with … more process! Specifically, Walz’s Department of Natural Resources (DNR) allowed the mine to explore surrounding state and private lands for minerals but reiterated there would be no actual mining, and such a decision would likely be years into the future after “lengthy environmental review and permitting.”

In other, non-bureaucratic words: It’s paralysis by analysis for the project.

These cancelled mining projects and jobs would have been done consistent with U.S. safety and environmental standards. Instead, China will reap the benefits of the Biden-Harris cancellation and Walz’s complacency.

Beyond concern for negative environmental impacts, some reports have found that foreign sourced minerals are mined using child forced labor. From a national security purview, this anti-development approach is equally damaging as U.S. reliance on foreign-sourced minerals continues to grow. Specifically, for the minerals buried in abundance at the Twin Metals mine, the U.S. is over 50% import reliant for nickel, 79% reliant for platinum, 76% reliant for cobalt, and 37% reliant for copper.

Those who have seen Walz work up close, including Republican Rep. Pete Stauber, have sounded the alarm on the consequences of his anti-mining, anti-energy policies. Under his watch Minnesota electricity costs have skyrocketed for residents.

For businesses, it’s even worse. Minnesota now boasts the highest industrial electricity prices in the Midwest.

Walz’s folksy appearance aside, he has embraced California-style climate zealotry to the extreme. He signed his state up for “100 percent carbon free electricity by 2040” which is estimated to cost billions of dollars, double electricity prices by 2034, lead to blackouts and kill jobs.

He also wants to ban gas-powered vehicles in the process.

Walz’s aggressive, anti-development approach, especially on energy and the environment, mirrors that of failing socialist nations. It is no wonder Minnesota has experienced significant downfalls under his leadership.

Regardless of how the media portrays him, they cannot erase his record of selling out the workers of Twin Metals mine to the liberal Left.

Mandy Gunasekara served as chief of staff to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency under President Trump.

The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not reflect the official position of the Daily Caller News Foundation.

(Featured Image Media Credit: Screen Capture/CSPAN)

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Daily Caller

LA Anti-ICE Chaos, Clashes With Police Spreading Around America

Published on June 11, 2025

By

 

From the Daily Caller News Foundation

By Hudson Crozier

The unrest that has consumed Los Angeles in recent days appears to be spreading elsewhere as numerous rioters outraged at immigration raids were arrested across the country on Tuesday night.

Los Angeles authorities began making “mass arrests” late Tuesday and issued a curfew following days of rioting sparked by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrests of illegal immigrants in the area. Businesses were seen in the process of boarding up their buildings in anticipation of possible looting, the Daily Caller News Foundation reported.

Local media outlets reported that major U.S. cities saw their own versions of Los Angeles’ chaos Tuesday night, with alleged assaults of police officers, fires, rock-throwing and other acts of violence. Protests and resulting arrests had already started to spread beyond Los Angeles as of Monday night.

Seattle

At least two people were arrested after protesters tore down American flags at a federal building in Seattle and burned them on Tuesday night, according to multiple reports. Earlier that day, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officers were seen on video shoving back Antifa-style militants and firing crowd control munitions after the activists tried to block entrances and exits to the building, which houses an immigration court.

New York City

Eighty-six people were arrested overnight starting on Tuesday evening as protesters marched to a Manhattan immigration court and other locations, local outlet ABC7 reported. Police said people threw bottles at protesters and debris and traffic cones onto the road. Charges included assault, resisting arrest, reckless endangerment and obstructing government administration.

One exchange caught on video showed a woman pleading with protesters to let her drive past them on the road so she could go to work.

Illegal migrants “are having their children taken and their parents,” a traffic-blocking activist told the driver.

Another video posted by Sky News showed a mob trying to force its way past a wall of officers while screaming.

Denver

Protesters began gathering at the Colorado State Capitol building in Denver on Tuesday before moving off in a crowd to block traffic on two streets, Colorado Newsline reported. Police ended up in confrontations with rioters throughout the evening, arresting at least 17 on charges such as obstruction of streets, graffiti, assaulting a peace officer and unlawful throwing of projectiles, according to 9News. Police were reportedly seen throwing smoke bombs and pepper balls to disperse crowds.

Atlanta

Organizers of an anti-ICE rally in Atlanta on Tuesday night had agreed to disperse by 9 p.m., but some protesters remained and set off scuffles with police, a local Fox network reported. Rioters damaged three police squad cars by throwing rocks, police said, and threw fireworks at officers. Police used tear gas to disperse the agitators and arrested at least six.

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Crime

LA Mayor Karen Bass Makes New Demands Of Trump At Monday Night Press Conference

Published on June 10, 2025

By

 

From the Daily Caller News Foundation

By Mariane Angela

During a Monday night press briefing, Democratic Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass told the Trump administration to stop the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids in Los Angeles.

President Donald Trump deployed the National Guard to Los Angeles on Saturday after riots erupted following an ICE raid at a Home Depot. During Monday’s press briefing, Bass called for an end to the raids conducted by the Trump administration, claiming that the power to deploy troops or request assistance should lie with state and local officials, not the federal government.

“I would say stop the raids. Stop the raids, period. I would say give the power back to our governor, and if we need the National Guard, we can do it in the normal circumstances, which is the request is made local, and the governor decides, or not to, grant that to our city,” Bass said when asked what she would say to the Trump administration.

Bass reiterated her earlier stance and questioned the need for an additional military presence, given the National Guard’s current role in securing federal buildings.

WATCH:

“We didn’t need the National Guard. Why on earth? What are they going to do? Do you know what the National Guard is doing now? They are guarding two buildings,” Bass said when asked to react to the deployment of Marines.

Bass then called the deployment an unjustified and overreaching action.

“They are guarding the federal building here in downtown, and they’re guarding the federal building in Westwood. That’s what they’re doing. So they need Marines on top of it? I don’t understand that. That’s why I feel like we are part of an experiment that we did not ask to be a part of,” Bass added.

Despite Bass claiming that the National Guard’s deployment was unnecessary, Fox News reporter Bill Melugin shared videos showing ICE agents in one of the vehicles being struck by rocks. Melugin also posted additional footage and photos of the aftermath, including an image of an ICE agent’s injury and a windshield damaged by a rioter’s rock.

Around 1,000 individuals wreaked havoc in Los Angeles Friday night, surrounding a federal building, attacking ICE agents, deflating tires and vandalizing government property, according to the Department of Homeland Security. The unrest caused significant damage and severe traffic disruptions, bringing several key city roads to a complete standstill.

On Saturday night, Trump authorized the deployment of the National Guard to assist local law enforcement and warned Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom that the federal government would intervene if local authorities failed to restore order.

In response, California filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration Monday, challenging the deployment of National Guard troops to Los Angeles to address the immigration riots. Attorney General Rob Bonta and Newsom said that federalizing 2,000 California National Guard members without Newsom’s consent exceeded the president’s authority.

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