Ryan Wilson: ‘America First’ policies are putting Minnesota back on track

Today, the America First Policy Institute (AFPI) is launching a chapter in Minnesota. This is a critical step toward ensuring the policies fueling America’s resurgence reach the Land of 10,000 Lakes.

AFPI was founded by Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins, Secretary of Education Linda McMahon, and Larry Kudlow in 2021. Nine of its founding chairs went on to serve as Cabinet Secretaries, and dozens more took senior staff roles within the Trump Administration. Now, AFPI is focusing on the states, and I’m honored to serve as the inaugural chairman of its Minnesota chapter.

As a fourth-generation Minnesotan, husband, father, business leader, and attorney, I know that Minnesota is worth fighting for. Minnesota was once the envy of the nation. Time magazine praised our quality of life, calling us a “state that works.” But over the past eight years, the leaders of our state have taken a wrong turn. Few Minnesotans would characterize our current government as one that works. It seems like everything the government touches is broken.

Governor Tim Walz found himself in the national spotlight as a vice-presidential candidate. Now, with the glow of that moment fading, his home state is emerging not as a stronghold of progressive triumph but as a case study in America First opportunity. We are seeing the consequences of Governor Walz prioritizing the far-left agenda of out-of-state elite — and Democrat Socialists — over the commonsense values of Minnesotans. A radical, discriminatory woke agenda has taken hold in our institutions, and the consequences of failed leadership and these extreme policies are becoming clearer by the day. Biological boys are allowed on girls’ sports teams, creating unsafe locker room environments and unfair competition. Illegal immigrants receive taxpayer-funded college tuition. Criminals are allowed to run free without punishment. Fraud and corruption are at levels not seen anywhere else in the nation. All of this while taxes keep rising and Minnesotans get less in return for their investment. Our leaders no longer deliver the good governance state that Time magazine lauded.

A recent poll of Minnesotans by AFPI shows how out of touch Walz’s policies are with commonsense Minnesotans. For example, Gov. Walz recently enacted legislation granting taxpayer-funded free college to illegal immigrants, which seventy-four percent of Minnesotans opposed. He signed a law that allows criminals to be released from jail early, as highlighted by the recent release of a criminal who murdered his family with an axe. Eighty-seven percent of Minnesotans oppose those soft-on-crime policies. Whistleblowers have recently revealed that Gov. Walz has large-scale hiring policies that prioritize DEI over merit. Eighty-one percent of Minnesotans oppose these unfair policies. And, in what is the most indicative of Gov. Walz’s policy failure, only thirty-four percent of Minnesotans believe that our state is on the right track.

Thankfully, there is a better path forward. Minnesota can once again be the envy of the nation, thanks in large part to policies advanced by President Trump’s America First Agenda. These proven policies are rooted in common sense, prosperity, and accountability. It’s a return to the strong, safe, and proud Minnesota we used to know – a promise of hope.

Minnesotans deserve a government that focuses on the fundamentals, not fringe ideologies. That’s what America First policies deliver, and it’s what a Minnesota First policy agenda can deliver. President Trump and his team are building the 21st-century economy, and we have an opportunity to do so here in Minnesota as well. The choice is clear. We can move forward into a new era of prosperity or be left behind to stagnate in a broken system.

But we need leadership that will fight for a stronger state, and who seek to embrace the America First policies that are bringing strength and prosperity to our nation. Local officials, lawmakers, and community leaders must step up. We need Minnesotans who are willing to reject the chaos and confusion of liberal extremism and chart a course guided by common sense, decency, and opportunity. It is time to support and implement policies that have proven success and will return our state to its full potential. 

At AFPI, we believe this moment is bigger than a single state. It’s a microcosm of what’s happening across the country. President Trump’s America First agenda, rooted in common sense, economic freedom, and public safety, has the power to change hearts and minds.

Ryan Wilson is the inaugural chairman of America First Policy Institute-Minnesota. A father, husband, coach, attorney, and former business owner, Wilson is a fourth-generation Minnesotan who ran for State Auditor in 2022, coming closer to statewide victory than any Republican candidate since 2008.

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