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US Election: Meet Kamala Harris Running Mate, Tim Walz And What You Should Know About Him
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Kamala Harris has chosen Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, a former school teacher and member of Congress, as her vice-presidential nominee.
The two-term Democratic governor was tapped by U.S. Vice-President Kamala Harris to be her presidential campaign running mate on Tuesday, ending an accelerated search for a vice-presidential candidate as the race to the White House heats up.
He is viewed as somebody who can win over rural and working-class voters, particularly in crucial Midwestern US states.
The choice of Walz, 60, came after he quickly emerged as a leading messenger for Democrats, portraying liberal policy positions in a common-sense manner that may appeal to Midwestern voters whose support Harris needs to win the presidency.
Mr. Walz will appear with Ms. Harris later on Tuesday at a campaign event in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania before the pair begin a five-day tour of other key battleground states.
They will also speak at the Democratic National Convention later this month, from 19 to 22 August in Chicago, when the Harris-Walz ticket will be made formal.
Below are a few things to know about Tim Walz:
He’s also credited as the first to label Republican candidates Donald Trump and JD Vance as “weird,” which has caught fire among the Harris campaign and Democrats in general.
“He’s a pretty safe choice,” said Matthew Lebo, a political science professor at Western University who studies American politics.
“He’s very down to earth and can explain liberal values and what the government’s priorities should be in a way that talks about the social safety net and helping people build their lives, as opposed to ‘we’re taxing you more.’”
Walz’s state also shares a 885-kilometer border with Canada — and a trade economy worth billions of dollars every year.
Walz was born in West Point, Neb., a community of about 3,500 people northwest of Omaha. Walz joined the Army National Guard and became a teacher in Nebraska.
He and his wife Gwen moved to Mankato in southern Minnesota in the 1990s, where he continued his teaching career and coached high school football.
Walz served 24 years in the Army National Guard before retiring from a field artillery battalion in 2005 as a command sergeant major, one of the military’s highest enlisted ranks.
He entered politics in 2006 by defeating a six-term Republican incumbent, Gil Gutknecht, for a seat in the U.S. Congress, first displaying his ability to connect with conservative voters. He also capitalized on anger towards then-president George W. Bush and the Iraq War.
During his own six terms in the House of Representatives, Walz became known as a champion of veterans issues. He won praise for helping to reach a bipartisan consensus for veterans’ health and education benefits during Trump’s divisive term.
When he successfully ran for the Minnesota governorship in 2018, he portrayed Democratic ideals like union organizing, workers’ rights, and a higher minimum wage in ways that appealed to rural middle-class voters who otherwise vote Republican.
“He’s a hunter but understands the sense of gun laws. He is liberal in terms of a wider social safety net.”
As governor, Walz has sought to further deepen economic ties with Canada, which is the state’s largest trading partner by far.
In June, Walz traveled to Canada with an economic and agricultural delegation that sought to promote their state as a trade and investment destination. Canada and Minnesota each have more than 60 companies operating within each other’s borders, employing thousands of local workers.
Walz met with Ontario Premier Doug Ford at Queen’s Park during the trip, and Ford highlighted the “billions of dollars in two-way trade” between their economies and the need to “protect and grow” those ties.
An Ecuadorian court has sentenced former President Lenin Moreno to five years in prison for accepting bribes linked to the construction of the country’s largest hydroelectric dam.
Moreno, who served as president from 2017 to 2021, was among 20 people convicted over corruption allegations surrounding the Coca Codo Sinclair hydroelectric project, which was built by Chinese company Sinohydro.
Prosecutors alleged that Sinohydro paid about $76 million in bribes, representing roughly four per cent of the project’s total cost.
Moreno, 73, denied the allegations and maintained that he never received money from the Chinese company.
Speaking after Friday’s ruling, the former president said he had never received “a single cent” from Sinohydro.
He also blamed the case on the administration of his former political ally and predecessor, Rafael Correa, whom he accused of seeking revenge after their political relationship deteriorated.
Moreno served as Correa’s vice-president between 2007 and 2013 before succeeding him as president. The two later fell out after Moreno moved away from Correa’s socialist policies and developed closer ties with the United States.
The court also sentenced Moreno’s wife and other relatives to nearly three years in prison for complicity in the corruption case.
Two former managers of the Coca Codo Sinclair power plant were also among those convicted.
Prosecutors had initially requested a six-and-a-half-year prison sentence for Moreno.
The former president has announced plans to appeal the judgment.
US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order renaming Lake Ontario as “Lake America” for official US federal use, in the latest escalation of his dispute with Canada.
Trump signed the order on Thursday at the White House, saying the change was effective immediately. The order directs the US Department of the Interior to update federal geographic records and naming systems.
Trump justified the move by accusing Canada of treating the United States unfairly in trade and defence. He said Canada had been “ripping us off” in trade and criticised Ottawa over its relationship with Washington.
However, the order does not require Canada or international organisations to adopt the new name. Lake Ontario is shared by the US state of New York and Canada’s province of Ontario, with more than half of its surface area lying in Canadian territory.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford dismissed the move, saying the lake would continue to be known as Lake Ontario by Canadians and much of the rest of the world.
The renaming comes amid a rapidly worsening US-Canada trade dispute. Washington recently imposed 50 per cent tariffs on about $20 billion worth of Canadian goods, while Canada responded with retaliatory tariffs of its own on hundreds of US products.
The latest move echoes Trump’s decision in January 2025 to rename the Gulf of Mexico as the “Gulf of America” for US federal purposes.
Trump also suggested that further geographic name changes could be considered, joking that after a gulf and a lake, the United States might eventually rename the Atlantic or Pacific Ocean.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government had not immediately issued a formal response to the latest order.
The controversy has added another symbolic dimension to already strained relations between the two neighbouring countries, as both sides continue to impose tariffs and seek to protect their economies.
The United States Secret Service has confirmed that it is aware of a video broadcast by Iranian state media that appears to threaten the life of Barron Trump, the youngest son of US President Donald Trump.
The nearly three-minute video, aired by the state-run Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB), opens with an English-language graphic asking: “Where to kill Barron Trump?!” It then displays stylised graphics identifying places where Barron is publicly known to spend time, including Trump Tower in New York.
The video ends with a narrator referring to people being “eagerly waiting to receive our $10 million reward.”
Secret Service spokesperson Nate Herring confirmed that the agency was investigating the video as a potential threat against one of its protectees.
“The US Secret Service is aware of the video and investigates anything that can be perceived as a threat toward our protectees,” Secret Service spokesperson Nate Herring told CNN in a statement. “Out of concern for operational security, we do not discuss matters of protective intelligence.”
The apparent targeting of Barron marks a new development in a broader pattern of threats directed at Trump and members of his family by hard-line Iranian media.
Iranian media outlets have previously published material threatening President Trump and his family, while first lady Melania Trump has also been the subject of threats. However, the video appears to be the first public instance in which Barron has been specifically singled out.
A federal law enforcement source told CNN that the video forms part of a wider campaign of material from Iran targeting Trump and his family. According to the source, some of the videos have included details about movements and suggestions for killing members of the president’s family.
The security response to such threats involves continuously changing and adjusting protective arrangements, based on information gathered by the Secret Service, other US agencies, police authorities and foreign governments.
IRIB, which broadcast the video, is regarded as aligned with hard-liners within Iran’s regime, while its head is directly appointed by Iran’s supreme leader.
Trump has previously spoken publicly about threats against his life from Iran.
“I’m on whatever list… so far, I guess I’ve been a bit lucky, but maybe that doesn’t last very long. These are evil, sick people.”
He made the comments in July at the NATO summit in Turkey, before secretly leaving the country aboard an alternate military aircraft.
The departure was part of an elaborate security operation reportedly triggered by an Iranian threat. Trump boarded the aircraft while concealed inside a catering truck after officials determined that travelling on either version of Air Force One could expose him to an unacceptable level of danger.
A person familiar with the matter told CNN that the threat involved a shoulder-fired missile and was considered specific enough for officials to fear that Trump’s life would be at enormous risk if he travelled on either version of Air Force One.
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