When my wife and I visited Minneapolis in 2024, we loved it.

Of course, having close friends there doesn’t hurt. Or the fact that, as in every other trip I’ve taken to the state of Minnesota, the temperature never fell below 70°. That includes two trips in late September and early October, when New York was in the 40s. I have no idea what it’s like when the high is minus 10°.

But even putting those things aside, we noticed things about Minnesota that surprised our Gotham-centric eyes.

First, it’s a really beautiful place. The Mississippi River begins in Minnesota and it frames Minneapolis. It’s not as wide as it gets when you’re further downriver – in St. Louis, for example. It seems like you see life on both sides.

Not to mention Minnetonka Falls, a wonderful park that includes the impressive cascade on the outskirts of the city.

Second, we ate really well there. The idea of peanut butter on a hamburger would gross me out. Not in Minneapolis. Same with a stuffed hamburger. Or a tater tots casserole, aka hot dish.

We even ventured to an Italian restaurant. I never do that outside New York since it’s hard to believe any other city – except maybe Boston – has decent cuisine of my ancestral home. But it was wonderful – a great array of antipasti, pasta and carne that would be at home in Carroll Gardens or Arthur Avenue.

The Twin Cities don’t lack in culture. We attended a wonderful production of “The Lehman Trilogy” at the relatively new version of the Guthrie Theater. In a previous trip, we visited the beautiful Walker Art Center. There are independent bookstores all over the place.

And, of course, Minnesota is the home state of Prince and Bob Dylan.

You’ve heard that people in Minnesota are over-the-top nice and try at all costs to avoid hurting your feelings.. Let me give you an example:

On our last day in the area, we had lunch with friends at a pub in the south part of the city. It was a Monday, and I was somewhat distracted by the fact that the Mets needed to beat Atlanta to make it to the postseason.

I tried to avoid the game – my friends aren’t big baseball fans. But as were leaving the restaurant, I watched on the TV screen as Francisco Lindor homered to put the Mets ahead in the ninth inning.

I do not hide my feelings when I’m watching the Mets. I let out an enormous “Go, go, go, yes!” as the ball cleared the fence.

At which point a server in the restaurant, quite naturally for a Minnesotan, blurted “Who cares about the Mets?”

I was undaunted. I went out to the parking lot to catch the end of the game and say goodbye to my friends. At which point, the server came running out and apologized profusely for her outburst.

I mean, the rowdy New Yorker is the one who disturbed everyone’s lunch. But she was the one who expressed remorse. My wife and I laughed, because there was no way this ever happens in New York without somebody’s middle finger going up.

Minnesotans are nice. They look out for one another. There’s less crime and a genuine effort to alleviate poverty. They are culturally diverse, welcoming people from throughout the world to a place where a lot of immigrants from tropical areas are probably shocked by the climate.

It might seem like heresy for a native New Yorker, especially if you know how chauvinistic I am about the City that Never Sleeps. But I could live in Minnesota.

So why did Trump pick on Minnesota?

Exactly because of all of the above. And because Minnesota hasn’t voted for a Republican presidential candidate since 1972 – and has only voted for a Republican (Eisenhower twice) three times since 1932, the first time it ever went Democratic.

The red states where Trump is beloved are generally failures. Crime is higher. Living standards are lower. And, of course, bigotry keeps anyone not white and Christian from thriving.

That won’t do as far as Trump and his minions are concerned. Their hatred for Tim Walz and Illan Omar and Amy Klobuchar and everyone else from Minnesota is based on the perception that the competence of Democratic leadership is a taunt rather than an example.

So Trump and Stephen Miller and the rest of the pond scum were determined to make life miserable in a place where it isn’t. The results are there. Hundreds of non-criminal immigrants – undocumented or otherwise – whisked away by secret police. Disruption of businesses, schools, houses of worship. And murder – at least two that we know of.

What Trump and Republicans didn’t count on was the fact that Minnesotans are fierce about their niceness. They mistook civility and kindness for complaisance and apathy, and ended up with exactly the opposite.

I love Minnesota. I love the Minnesotans I’ve met in my life. They are real Americans, the real patriots. And they deserve better than what January 2026 has given them.

It’s the North Star State, l’etoile du nord, because it’s a guiding light for the United States and the world. Never more than now.