Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz isn’t one to agree with President Donald Trump on much. But at the 2025 South By Southwest (SXSW) conference on Saturday, he admitted there were two exceptions: daylight saving time and the penny.
Speaking with Vox’s Today, Explained podcast host Sean Rameswaram in Austin, Texas, Walz made it clear he doesn’t see eye to eye with Trump on most issues. He disagrees with him on DEI (“You have a whole bunch of top military officers, the only two you fire are a woman and a black man?”), on his administration’s termination of nearly all foreign aid (a “horrible mistake” that “will cost us”), and with the White House presence of “terrible president” Elon Musk (“he threatened to sue me after that”).
But when it comes to daylight saving time, Walz was willing to concede some common ground.
“I’ll mention this, especially tonight,” said Walz (the clock springs forward at 2 am tomorrow). “I think I come down on Trump’s side on daylight saving time.”
What does President Trump think of daylight saving time?
Trump has wavered on the issue. In December, he described the practice as “inconvenient and very costly to our nation,” writing on Truth Social, “The Republican Party will use its best efforts to eliminate Daylight Saving Time.” But on Thursday, he downplayed its importance, calling it a “50-50 issue” that was “hard to get excited about.” Still, a recent Gallup poll found 54% of Americans are in favor of doing away with the time change, and Walz appears to be among them.
What else does Walz agree with Trump on?
The second point of agreement? Getting rid of the penny.
“My proudest achievement signed into law—because I thought this was a flex during the campaign—I am the poorest person to ever run for vice president,” Walz said, seemingly referencing his record on financial transparency. “I passed the STOCK Act—you had to disclose if you were trading stocks in Congress.”
“I’m pretty fiscally conservative, so here’s the thing,” he continued. “I heard Donald Trump talk about this, and I’m with him—I think we should get rid of the penny. I think it’s outlived its thing.”
Walz isn’t alone in this stance. In February, Trump said he ordered the U.S. Mint to stop producing the one-cent coins. According to the Mint’s annual report, the government lost $85 million making pennies in 2024, as each one cost nearly 3.7 cents to produce—up from 3.1 cents the previous year. While eliminating the penny will create other challenges (namely, what to do about the nickel), proponents argue it would ultimately save money.
For all their political differences—and there are many—Walz and Trump seem to have some common ground…at least on small changes.
“Yeah the world’s melting down around us, but Donald and I are solving the penny crisis,” Walz joked.
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