(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump on Friday blamed Minnesota’s Democratic governor for cyberattacks on the state’s water systems even though U.S. officials previously told ABC News authorities are investigating whether Iran or hackers associated with the country could be behind them.
“We heard in Minnesota there was a cyberattack and they blame it on Iran. I don’t think so. I think, I blame it on Minnesota because they’re grossly incompetent,” Trump said a Cabinet meeting at Camp David.
More than 30 water systems in Minnesota were targeted in a cyberattack Sunday and Monday according to Minnesota IT Services (MNIT).
MNIT said the attackers targeted systems to remotely monitor and control equipment, including the programmable logic controllers (PLCs).
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) said in an alert Thursday that cyber threat actors are targeting PLCs and modifying passwords to “to lock out operators.”
Despite the warnings, Trump laid the blame on Minnesota and Democratic Gov. Tim Walz.
“I think that Minnesota ought to get its act together. It’s one of the worst run states,” he told ABC News’ Mary Bruce when she asked about the attack.
Walz pushed back against Trump in statements on social media Friday.
“Trump knows exactly who is responsible for this attack, and knows that other states were hit too. This is what modern warfare looks like, and it further illustrates there’s no plan to win a war with Iran,” he said.
The governor also noted federal cuts by the The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) weakened cyber security.’
“DOGE took an axe to CISA and left the U.S. exposed to cyber attacks. Thankfully, our experts in Minnesota were able to identify the vulnerability quickly and work with local communities to stop it,” he said.
MNIT said there are no active requests from Minnesota localities for residents to change their water use and that it is working with federal investigators in the probe. The agency said it has not determined who was responsible.
“In this situation, ‘impacted’ means investigators confirmed malicious activity involving a system’s technology. It does not mean every affected community experienced a disruption to water service,” MNIT said in a statement Thursday.
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