Trump blames Tim Walz for water hacks even though it’s probably Iran

The FBI, the EPA, and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) have stopped short of officially blaming Iran for a spate of cyberattacks on Minnesota’s water systems, but consensus is that Iran is likely behind them. That, of course, hasn’t stopped Donald Trump from sharing his own theory — that Governor Tim Walz is to blame and telling reporters that “I don’t think there was an Iranian cyberattack.”

Trump’s comments come shortly after the FBI issued a warning that the cyberattacks on American infrastructure were spreading to other states. In Minnesota alone, at least 30 community water systems had been targeted in what appeared to be a coordinated attack. The CISA has linked similar attacks earlier in the year to Iran, which has been the target of an on-again-off-again war waged by the US government. With limited military options, Iran has repeatedly turned to digital efforts to become a thorn in the side of the Trump administration and wage a PR war.

Trump has lashed out frequently at Minnesota and Walz during his second term and even threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act against it during a surge of ICE enforcement efforts in the state that left multiple people dead.