Trump Blames Minnesota After Cyberattacks Hit US Water Systems

A coordinated cyberattack targeted municipal water and wastewater systems across at least seven U.S. states between July 26 and 27, 2026. The most severe impacts occurred in Minnesota, where over 30 community water systems were breached. In Braham, Minnesota, a water treatment plant went offline for two hours, while other affected sites experienced water pressure loss and flooding. Hackers remotely accessed internet-facing programmable logic controllers (PLCs) to change passwords and lock out operators, forcing some utilities to revert to manual operations or issue boil-water notices. No water contamination was reported.

Donald Trump dismissed the likelihood of foreign involvement during a cabinet meeting at Camp David on July 31. He instead attributed the vulnerabilities to the "grossly incompetent" and "corrupt" leadership of Minnesota Governor Tim Walz. This position contradicts preliminary assessments from the FBI, CISA, and the Minnesota Fusion Center, which identified tradecraft consistent with Iranian state-sponsored actors, including groups like Handala and CyberAv3ngers. The attacks occurred amid an escalating military conflict between the U.S. and Iran.

Governor Tim Walz characterized the incidents as an example of "modern warfare" and accused the Trump administration's Department of Government Efficiency of gutting the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), thereby leaving the nation exposed. Federal agencies continue to urge critical infrastructure operators to remove publicly exposed PLCs from the internet to prevent further intrusions.