Trump Blames Walz for Cyberattacks on U.S. Water Systems

Cyberattacks targeted municipal water and wastewater systems across at least seven U.S. states, including Minnesota, Michigan, Washington, South Dakota, and California, between July 26 and 27, 2026. The intrusions focused on programmable logic controllers (PLCs), specifically Rockwell Automation MicroLogix series, where hackers changed passwords and IP addresses to lock out operators. In Minnesota, over 30 systems were targeted, causing a treatment plant outage in Braham and requiring manual workarounds in cities like Plymouth and South St. Paul. Other effects nationwide included water pressure loss and localized flooding. Federal agencies report that water safety was not compromised.

Donald Trump dismissed findings from the FBI and CISA suggesting Iranian involvement, instead attributing the breaches to the "grossly incompetent" and "corrupt" leadership of Minnesota Governor Tim Walz. Trump made these claims during a cabinet meeting at Camp David, suggesting the state government was responsible for the vulnerabilities.

Governor Tim Walz characterized the attacks as an example of "modern warfare" and argued that the vulnerabilities resulted from the Trump administration's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) gutting the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA). While the U.S. government has not issued a formal public attribution, the Minnesota Fusion Center and other federal investigators noted that the tradecraft aligns with Iranian-linked campaigns, possibly by groups such as Handala or CyberAv3ngers. The incidents coincide with intensified military conflict between the U.S. and Iran in the Middle East.