Vice President JD Vance will visit Minnesota on Thursday, a person familiar with the plans told NBC News, underscoring the White House's increased focus on the state.
The trip, which will include remarks in Minneapolis and a roundtable discussion with local leaders and members of the community, comes amid escalating political tensions over the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement presence there.
An ICE officer fatally shot Renee Nicole Good, 37, during a confrontation with officers almost two weeks ago. President Donald Trump, Vance and other top U.S. officials have said the shooting was justified.
Democrats, including Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, have disputed their assertions. They also have found themselves pulled into a federal investigation into whether state officials conspired to impede law enforcement in the administration's immigration operations. The Justice Department has sent subpoenas to Walz, Frey and other state leaders, according to a document reviewed by NBC News and a person familiar with the investigation.
The trip was first reported by MS NOW.
Vance has taken a lead role in the White House response. At a White House news briefing this month, he claimed Good had been “brainwashed,” suggesting without evidence that she was tied to a “broader, left-wing network.”
Vance has also been vocal about an ongoing fraud investigation involving allegations of misuse of welfare funds in Minnesota's Somali community. He has criticized Walz, his Democratic opponent for vice president in 2024, and at this month's briefing he announced the creation of a position to tackle fraud probes there and in other states.
Minnesota has been a particular fixation for Trump, who has long sought to flip the state to Republicans. The GOP hasn't won a statewide race there in two decades.
Vance is expected to visit his native Ohio earlier Thursday. His office announced that he will deliver remarks about the administration's efforts to lower prices at an industrial shipping facility in Toledo.
