BRIMSON, Minn. — Low humidity and high winds caused a wildfire burning near Brimson to jump in size Monday. Meanwhile, a new, separate wildfire ignited a few miles to the northeast and Gov. Tim Walz authorized the National Guard to help in the fight.

The Camp House Fire, which started Sunday afternoon about 45 miles north of Duluth, grew to 1,250 acres by mid-morning Monday, up from 750 acres the evening before, Superior National Forest spokesperson Christine Kolinski said.

Three cabins were believed to be destroyed and over 50 residences evacuated in the Camp House Fire, the St. Louis County Sheriff’s Office reported Monday afternoon.

Separately, the Jenkins Creek Fire ignited late Monday morning, about 9 miles northeast of the Camp Fire near Fairbanks, Minn. It grew quickly to 800 acres by late afternoon, Kolinski said.

St. Louis County Sheriff Gordon Ramsay said on Facebook that the Jenkins Fire had “engulfed” one structure.

The Jenkins Fire also prompted the U.S. Forest Service to evacuate and close its Cadotte Lake Campground.

The cause of each fire is under investigation.

Evacuating through fire

The Camp House Fire appeared to still be growing Monday afternoon. The fire jumped to the west side of County Highway 44, forcing Mikayla Schliep and her family to evacuate down their long driveway as fire burned on each side of the truck, leaving some components singed.

Other family members piled into other vehicles, so Schleip had to wait at the end of the driveway until they, too, could drive through the flames.

“That was the longest five minutes of my life,” Schliep said.

Schliep was not sure if her home survived.

Several dozen residents were evacuated Sunday evening.

Jeff Conklin looks at the plume of smoke rising from the Camp House Fire near Brimson, Minn. on Monday, May 12, 2025. (Wyatt Buckner / Duluth Media Group)

Jeff Conklin, who lives on Elo Road, was on a side-by-side ride with friends Sunday when he started to hear about the fire. When he got closer to home, he found his road was closed. But his dogs, Queeny, an 11-year-old Presa Canario, and Thor, a 10-year-old Presa Canario and lab mix, were back at the house.

He was allowed to quickly retrieve the dogs and get out, but said he would have gone in if they had tried to stop him

“They (Queen and Thor) are old,” Conklin said. “They don’t deserve to die of smoke inhalation.”

Conklin, who uses a wheelchair, spent the night in his vehicle parked outside Hugo’s Bar in Brimson, which is serving as a staging area for first responders and an unofficial gathering place for evacuees.

So far, he thinks the fire spared his home.

Greg Ruberg, of Two Harbors, who was sitting at the bar snacking on popcorn just before noon Monday, said he just got back from checking on his cabin near George Lake.

While the fire burned around the property, his cabin and four other structures were unharmed.

“We had a really large fire perimeter because of all the dead balsam, so we worked on it for the last year and half, cleaning up every dead tree, all the brush,” Ruberg said. “And it burned exactly around the perimeter of our yard.”

At least two of his neighbors, however, were among those who lost their cabins.

In addition to reducing fuels, Ruberg also credited the work of aerial crews dropping water on and around his property and first responders who went in and checked on his property and let him know it was safe.

“They were doing everything they could to save it,” Ruberg said.

Multiple agencies at work

Dwayne Kelly, of Two Harbors, takes a photo of the Camp House Fire near Brimson, Minn. on Monday, May 12, 2025. (Wyatt Buckner / Duluth Media Group)

Gov. Tim Walz signed off Monday on the Minnesota National Guard helping fight the growing Camp House Fire.

“Wildfires in northern Minnesota have forced families to evacuate and caused severe damage to and loss of property,” Walz said in a news release Monday afternoon. “My thoughts are with those Minnesotans who are being impacted by this dangerous and unpredictable fire.”

The National Guard will provide personnel, assistance and resources alongside the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, Minnesota Interagency Fire Center and local agencies.

As of Monday morning, the wildfire was burning in mixed-forest vegetation, including a “large quantity” of spruce budworm-infested forest stands, the Minnesota Incident Command Team C reported in a news release.

Robbie Krofoot, who has a cabin on Elo Road, said he evacuated yesterday but returned in the evening to water down the ditch and around his property. He’s glad he did, as the fire ended up jumping the road. As of early Monday afternoon, he said his cabin was safe.

“I’ve been here 30-some years. I’ve seen fires up here, but I’ve never had to evacuate,” Krofoot said as he sat at the bar at Hugo’s. “This is the biggest one in Brimson in a long time.”

The public is asked to avoid the area. No drones are allowed.

“If drones are detected near the fire, all air operations supporting the fire will stop,” Minnesota Incident Command said in the news release.

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County Highway 44 between Indian Creek Road and Brimson Road, north of Hugo’s Bar, was closed to all traffic as of 11 a.m. Monday. Highway 44 north of Rollins Road and Hugo’s also closed Monday afternoon.

Firefighting aircraft, personnel from the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources and Superior National Forest, and mutual aid from St. Louis County and Lake County fire departments responded.

The “rapidly spreading grass/wildfire” was first reported at 1:15 p.m. Sunday on the 2200 block of Highway 44 in Ault Township, near the Lake County border.

The National Weather Service issued a Fire Weather Watch and Red Flag Warning for Monday for 64 counties due to the near-critical fire weather. The NWS forecast a high temperature Monday of 85 degrees, with wind gusts up to 25 mph. The forecast Tuesday calls for wind gusts up to 20 mph and a high temperature of 85 degrees.

By CHRIS MEGERIAN, ZEKE MILLER and BERNARD CONDON

WASHINGTON (AP) — For President Donald Trump, accepting a free Air Force One replacement from Qatar is a no-brainer.

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“I would never be one to turn down that kind of an offer,” the Republican told reporters on Monday. “I could be a stupid person and say, ‘No, we don’t want a free, very expensive airplane.’”

Critics of the plan worry that the move threatens to turn a global symbol of American power into an airborne collection of ethical, legal, security and counterintelligence concerns.

“This is unprecedented,” said Jessica Levinson, a constitutional law expert at Loyola Law School. “We just haven’t tested these boundaries before.”

Trump tried to tamp down some of the opposition by saying he wouldn’t fly around in the gifted Boeing 747 when his term ends. Instead, he said, the $400 million plane would be donated to a future presidential library, similar to how the Boeing 707 used by President Ronald Reagan was decommissioned and put on display as a museum piece.

“It would go directly to the library after I leave office,” Trump said. “I wouldn’t be using it.”

However, that did little to quell the controversy over the plane. Democrats are united in outrage, and even some of the Republican president’s allies are worried. Laura Loomer, an outspoken conspiracy theorist who has tried to purge disloyal officials from the administration, wrote on social media that she would “take a bullet for Trump” but said she’s “so disappointed.”

Congressional Republicans have also expressed some doubts about the plan.

“My view is that it would be better if Air Force One were a big, beautiful jet made in the United States of America. That would be ideal,” said Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley.

And Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul flatly said he was a “No” on whether Trump should accept the plane. When asked to elaborate on his reasoning, Paul replied: “I don’t think it looks good or smells good.” The Republican shrugged when asked by a reporter if there were “constitutional questions.”

Trump will likely face persistent questions about the plane in the coming days as he travels to the Middle East, including a stop in Qatar.

Why does Trump want the Qatari plane?

The two planes currently used as Air Force One have been flying for nearly four decades, and Trump is eager to replace them. During his first term, he displayed a model of a new jumbo jet in the Oval Office, complete with a revised paint scheme that echoed the red, white and dark blue design of his personal plane.

Boeing has been working on retrofitting 747s that were originally built for a now-defunct Russian airliner. But the program has faced nearly a decade of delays — with perhaps more on the way — from a series of issues, including a critical subcontractor’s bankruptcy and the difficulty of finding and retaining qualified staff who could be awarded high-level security clearances.

The new planes aren’t due to be finished until near the end of Trump’s term, and he’s out of patience. He has described the situation as “a total mess,” and he has complained that Air Force One isn’t as nice as the planes flown by some Arab leaders.

“It’s not even the same ballgame,” he said.

Trump said Qatar, which hosts the largest U.S. military base in the Middle East, offered a replacement plane that could be used while the government was waiting for Boeing to finish.

“We give free things out,” he said. “We’ll take one, too.”

He bristled at suggestions that he should turn down the plane, comparing the potential gift to favors on the golf course.

“When they give you a putt, you pick it up and you walk to the next hole and you say, ‘Thank you very much,’” he said.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune of South Dakota expressed skepticism.

“I understand his frustration. They’re way behind schedule on delivering the next Air Force One,” the Republican told reporters. “Whether or not this is the right solution or not, I don’t know.”

Mississippi GOP Sen. Roger Wicker said that any plane “needs to be gifted to the United States of America.”

He added that it whether the U.S. should accept a Qatari plane warranted further inquiry. “There’ll be some questions about that, and this issue, I expect, will be vetted by the time a decision needs to be made.”

Will the new plane be secure?

The Qatari plane has been described as a “palace in the sky,” complete with luxurious accommodations and top-of-the-line finishes.

FILE – A 13-year-old private Boeing aircraft that President Donald Trump toured on Saturday to check out new hardware and technology features, and highlight the aircraft maker’s delay in delivering updated versions of the Air Force One presidential aircraft, takes off from Palm Beach International Airport, Feb. 16, 2025, in West Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis, File)

But security is the primary concern when it comes to presidential travel. The current Air Force One planes were built from scratch near the end of the Cold War. They are hardened against the effects of a nuclear blast and include a range of security features, such as anti-missile countermeasures and an onboard operating room. They are also equipped with air-to-air refueling capabilities for contingencies, though it has never been utilized with a president on board.

A former U.S. official briefed on the Air Force One replacement project said that while it would be possible to add some features to the Qatari jet, there was no way to add the full suite of capabilities to the plane on a tight timetable.

The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive program, said it would be a risk for presidents to fly on such a jet.

One of the most important features of Air Force One is the communications capabilities. Presidents can use the plane as a flying Situation Room, allowing them to respond to crises anywhere on the globe.

However, on Sept. 11, 2001, Republican President George W. Bush was frustrated by communications issues and ordered up massive technology upgrades over subsequent years to improve the president’s ability to monitor events and communicate with people around the world.

The new ones under development by Boeing are being stripped down so workers can replace the standard wiring with shielded cabling. They’re also modifying the jet with an array of classified security measures and communications capabilities.

Because of the high standards for ensuring a president can communicate clearly and securely, there are fears that Trump would be compromising safety by rushing to modify the Qatari jet.

“Disassembling and evaluating the plane for collection/spy devices will take years,” William Evanina, who served as director of the National Counterintelligence and Security Center during Trump’s first term, wrote on social media.

He said the plane should be considered nothing more than “a gracious presidential museum piece.”

Is any of this legal or ethical?

Even for a president who has blurred traditional lines around public service and personal gain, Trump’s plans to receive a jumbo jet as a gift has rattled Washington.

The Constitution prohibits federal officials from accepting things of value, or “emoluments,” from foreign governments without congressional approval.

“This is a classic example of what the founders worried about,” said Richard Painter, a law professor at the University of Minnesota and former White House ethics chief under Bush. “But I don’t think the founders anticipated it would get this bad.”

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox News on Monday that the details of the donation are “still being worked out” but would be done “in full compliance with the law.”

She dismissed idea the idea that Qatar wanted to influence Trump.

“They know President Trump, and they know he only works with the interests of the American public in mind,” she said.

Trump faced a legal fight over emoluments during his first term, when he opened the doors of his D.C. hotel to lobbyists, business executives and diplomats. His lawyers argued that the founders didn’t intend to ban transactions representing an exchange of a service like hotel space for money, only outright gifts. But some ethics lawyers disagreed, and it’s not clear if Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, the Philippines and other countries were paying full price or more for when they used the hotel.

In his second term, Trump’s family business has been very busy overseas. In December, it struck a deal for two Trump-branded real estate projects in Riyadh with a Saudi firm that two years earlier it had partnered with for a Trump golf resort and villas in Oman. And in Qatar, the Trump Organization announced last month another Trump branded resort along the coast.

Four Democratic senators on the Foreign Relations Committee — Brian Schatz of Hawaii, Chris Coons of Delaware, Cory Booker of New Jersey and Chris Murphy of Connecticut — issued a statement saying Trump’s plan “creates a clear conflict of interest, raises serious national security questions, invites foreign influence, and undermines public trust in our government.”

“No one — not even the president — is above the law,” they said.

Condon reported from New York. Associated Press writers Matt Brown, Lolita Baldor and Mary Clare Jalonick contributed to this report.

By AAMER MADHANI and DARLENE SUPERVILLE

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump set out on a three-nation visit to the Middle East on Monday, a trip he had originally intended to use to focus on his efforts to press wealthy Gulf nations to pour billions in new investment into the United States.

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But now Trump finds himself navigating a series of geopolitical crises — and searching for glimmers of hope in the deep well of global turmoil — that are casting greater import on the first extended overseas trip of his second term.

“This world is a lot safer today than it was a week ago,” Trump crowed to reporters as he sized up the foreign policy challenges he’s facing as he heads to Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. “And a lot safer than it was six months ago.”

The president was brimming with an overabundance of confidence about some of the world’s most intractable problems, from tensions in South Asia to the future of sanctions in Syria to the war in Ukraine.

But behind closed doors, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Qatar Emir Sheikh Tamim al-Thani, and Emirati President Mohammed bin Zayed will be looking to get a bead on how Trump intends to push ahead on resolving the war in Gaza, dealing with Iran’s rapidly progressing nuclear program and addressing India-Pakistan tensions.

And after weeks of threats and cajoling, it remains to be seen if Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will listen to Trump, who is demanding they meet in Istanbul this week to discuss ending Russia’s war on Ukraine.

Trump, for his part, projected confidence that the meeting will happen and even seemed somewhat optimistic that the end to the conflict is near. He floated the idea of making a detour from his itinerary to visit Turkey if he thinks his presence would be constructive.

“I was thinking about flying over. I don’t know where I am going be on Thursday,” Trump said. “I’ve got so many meetings. … There’s a possibility there, I guess, if I think things can happen.”

But Ukraine’s allies remained deeply skeptical Monday about prospects for talks and whether Putin was serious about peace.

“If there is no ceasefire there cannot be talks under fire,” European Union commission vice president Kaja Kallas told reporters at a meeting on Ukraine in London. “We want to see that Russia also wants peace. It takes two to want peace, it takes only one to want war, and we see that Russia clearly wants war.”

Trump sees opening in Gaza

Just as Trump was preparing to depart Washington for the Saudi capital of Riyadh, the last living American hostage in Gaza, Edan Alexander, was released.

Trump and administration officials framed the moment — a goodwill gesture toward Trump by Hamas — as a chance to get foundering peace negotiations between Israel and Hamas back on track.

“This was a step taken in good faith towards the United States and the efforts of the mediators — Qatar and Egypt — to put an end to this very brutal war and return ALL living hostages and remains to their loved one,” Trump posted on social media after Hamas extended the offer Sunday. “Hopefully this is the first of those final steps necessary to end this brutal conflict.”

While Trump pumped up Alexander’s release as a potential turning point, Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was far more subdued. Israel, notably, has not stepped back from plans to expand its war in Gaza.

Netanyahu’s office, in a statement Monday, underscored it had “not committed to a ceasefire of any kind or the release of terrorists” in exchange for Alexander.

“The negotiations will continue under fire, during preparations for an intensification of the fighting,” the prime minister’s office statement said.

Trump takes a different tone on Syria

As he prepared to leaved Washington, Trump also said he’s weighing removing sanctions on the Syrian government. It’s an issue that’s top of mind for the three Gulf leaders, who have rallied behind the new government in Damascus and will want Trump to follow through.

President Donald Trump boards Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews, Md., on his way to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Monday, May 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

“We may want to take them off of Syria, because we want to give them a fresh start,” said Trump, adding that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has urged him to do so.

The comments marked a striking change in tone from Trump, who has been deeply skeptical of Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa.

Al-Sharaa took power after his Islamist group, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), led an offensive that toppled former President Bashar Assad in December.

The Trump administration has yet to formally recognize the new Syrian government. Sanctions imposed on Damascus under Assad also remain in place.

Cajoling India and Pakistan with trade

Trump also took credit for his administration keeping India and Pakistan from returning to a state of all-out war amid the deadliest fighting in six years between the nuclear armed neighbors.

The president said he and aides were ultimately able to talk sense to India and Pakistan’s leadership and guide them away from further escalation by dangling carrots, while also threatening both nations with sticks.

“I said, ‘Come on, we’re going to do a lot of trade with you guys,’” Trump said. “’If you stop it, we’ll do trade. If you don’t stop it, we’re not going to do any trade.’ People never use trade the way I used it.”

The situation remains tenuous. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said Monday that his country has only “paused” its military action and will “retaliate on its own terms” if there is any future terror attack on the country.

Big differences remain in Iran nuclear talks

The president will arrive in the region after his special envoy, Steve Witkoff, held the fourth round of nuclear talks Sunday in Oman with Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi.

As the talks continue, the Trump administration has sent mixed messages about what nuclear work Iran would be allowed to do under a potential deal.

Senior administration officials, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, have said that Tehran would be required to import enriched material to run nuclear reactors for civilian purposes. Trump, however, said this past week that his administration hasn’t made a decision on the issue.

It’s also unclear if Trump will insist that Tehran give up support of Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon and Houthi militants in Yemen as part of any nuclear deal.

Whatever his negotiating frame may be, Trump seemed confident that Iran is engaging rationally, and that he will cement a deal soon.

“You can’t have a nuclear weapon,” Trump said of his demand for Iran. “But I think that they are talking intelligently.”

However, the two sides still appear a long way from any deal, even as time passes on a two-month deadline imposed by Trump.

Madhani reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates. AP writer Jill Lawless contributed from London.

Tim Connelly made a major splash on July 1, 2022, when he traded a number of draft assets along with a rolodex of role players to acquire Rudy Gobert in a trade with Utah.

It was an all-in type of move, which was a curious decision given that … the Timberwolves didn’t appear to be in an all-in position. Not back then, anyway.

Anthony Edwards was 20 years old at the time. Jaden McDaniels was 21. They’d just experienced their first playoff series when Connelly walked in the door and immediately pulled such a large trigger.

The stated logic at the time was that Gobert would help raise Minnesota’s floor to the point where the likes of Edwards and McDaniels would make playoff runs every single year. Experience is the most valuable teacher. And that has largely come to fruition.

But there was another benefit for Minnesota in stacking its roster at the time it did: It’s better to surround your star player(s) with an elite supporting cast too early rather than too late.

Because time does come for all, as Minnesota has witnessed firsthand over the past two postseasons.

Kevin Durant clearly didn’t have the same athletic pop, and was a bit of a glorified jumps-hooter, in last year’s first-round series. The same was true to a degree with LeBron James in Minnesota’s first-round series last month against the Lakers.

The decline is understandable for both. James is 40 years old, Durant 36. Steph Curry was still playing at a superstar level for Golden State at age 37, but he may miss the remainder of these Western Conference semifinals with a hamstring injury.

Curry said it’s the first hamstring injury of his career. He’s perhaps the best-conditioned athlete in basketball, but he was also taxed to the max down the stretch run of the season during which the Warriors attempted to win every game to dodge the play-in tournament, ended up in it anyway, then advanced to a grueling first-round matchup with Houston that went seven games.

It hardly feels like a coincidence that two days after playing 46 minutes in a Game 7, Curry suffered a soft-tissue injury at Target Center. The body can only endure so much as it ages, even as athletes attempt to push the bounds of logic.

Jimmy Butler built up a reputation of “Playoff Jimmy” for his spectacular postseason performances, carrying the Heat deep into the playoffs on multiple occasions. He tried to put on the cape again for Golden State in Game 4 on Saturday — delivering a dominant first three quarters to put the Warriors in a position to win even without Curry — but it was quite apparent the 35-year-old wing wore down by game’s end.

He went just 1 for 7 in the final frame. Draymond Green is 35, as well.

Meanwhile, Anthony Edwards played all 24 minutes in the second half on Saturday and appeared to only get stronger as the game wore on. The same was true in Game 4 against the Lakers.

Edwards is young and spry, as are most of his teammates. Outside of 37-year-old guard Mike Conley — who, likely not-so-coincidentally, got hurt in last year’s playoffs — Rudy Gobert is the oldest member of Minnesota’s rotation at just 32.

The Wolves are built to endure the duration of the marathon that is the NBA Playoffs. They aren’t affected by the every-other-day nature of these series. While youth may work against Minnesota in some of these matchups, so many other key factors are in its favor. The Timberwolves and Oklahoma City are the two clear favorites to advance to this year’s West Finals, and they’re both flush with young talent.

And by opening Edwards’ championship window so early in the guard’s career, the Timberwolves are giving their best player as many bites at the apple as physically possible.

That matters, because as the last two playoffs have shown, windows of championship contention end for teams and stars alike. You can’t kick seasons away while planning for “the future,” because you never know when injury or age will derail your best-laid plans.

Better to try to win now, versus assuming you’ll do so later.

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