President Trump claimed Tuesday morning that a “fraud investigation of California has begun,” accusing the Golden State of being worse than Minnesota, which is grappling with a multibillion-dollar scandal of its own.
“California, under Governor Gavin Newscum, is more corrupt than Minnesota, if that’s possible??? The Fraud Investigation of California has begun. Thank you for your attention to this matter!” Trump declared in a signed Truth Social post, using his preferred name for Golden State Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom.
The president did not specify who is investigating California or what they were looking into.
On Monday, The Post reported that the Trump administration was cutting off $10 billion in social services and child care funding to California, Colorado, Illinois, Minnesota, and New York in the aftermath of the growing fraud scandal in the Land of 10,000 Lakes.
The affected monies include $7.35 billion from the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program and $869 million from the Social Services Block Grant.
For days, Trump has been publicly suggesting that California is more rife with fraud than Minnesota, where at least $1 billion worth of taxpayer dollars is believed to have been stolen.
Last month, Minnesota prosecutors claimed that a preliminary estimate found that about half of the $18 billion spent on 14 Medicaid programs since 2018 — $9 billion — was likely snatched by thieves.
Some 90 individuals have been hit with charges over the staggering fraud, in which people set up nonprofits that got taxpayer dollars for services — such as child care — that they didn’t provide.
Amid the growing controversy, Minnesota Democratic Gov. Tim Walz dropped his bid for a third term Monday.
Trump alleged — without evidence — that proof will soon emerge that Walz was somehow implicated in the massive fraud scandal roiling his state.
“Governor Walz has destroyed the State of Minnesota, but others, like Governor Gavin Newscum, JB Pritzker [of Illinois], and Kathy Hochul [of New York], have done, in my opinion, an even more dishonest and incompetent job,” Trump chided on Truth Social Monday.
A spokesperson for Newsom shrugged off Trump’s Truth Social post, chiding that the president “is a deranged, habitual liar whose relationship with reality ended years ago.”
“In the actual world where adults govern — Gavin Newsom has been cleaning house,” the spokesperson said in a statement to The Post. “Since taking office, he’s blocked over $125 BILLION in fraud, arrested criminal parasites leaching off of taxpayers, and protected taxpayers from the exact kind of scam artists Trump celebrates, excuses, and pardons.
“Gavin Newsom runs a state. Donald Trump runs his mouth and little fingers.”
