MADISON, Wis. (AP) — President Donald Trump on Friday called on his supporters to vote for a candidate for the Wisconsin Supreme Court who already had the full-throated backing of Trump's billionaire adviser Elon Musk.
“All Voters who believe in Common Sense should GET OUT TO VOTE EARLY for Brad Schimel,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.
Trump's post came a little over a week before the April 1 election that will determine control of the court, which since 2023 has a majority of liberal justices. Who controls the court will impact a wide range of pending high profile issues, like abortion rights and congressional district boundaries, but it could also determine what the voting rules are for the 2026 midterms and 2028 presidential election in the battleground state.
Schimel reacted to Trump's post with a statement saying: “I’m humbled and deeply honored to receive the endorsement of our President.” He added, “On April 1, Wisconsin conservatives must unite to restore objectivity to our Supreme Court and save our state like we saved our country in November.”
Schimel, a former Republican attorney general, is a Trump backer who had previously said he would welcome an endorsement from the president. He also appeared at a rally with Trump's son, Donald Trump Jr., in March, posed for a picture in front of a giant inflated Trump and attended Trump's inauguration in January. Schimel has also benefited from more than $12 million spent by groups funded by Musk.
One of the mailers used by the Musk group says that Schimel would back Trump's agenda from the Supreme Court. Trump Jr. stressed that a Schimel win was needed to protect his father's agenda. And Schimel told a group of Turning Point USA canvassers earlier this month that he needs to be elected to be part of a “support network” for Trump.
“Donald Trump doesn’t do this by himself; there has to be a support network around him,” Schimel said, according to a video of his comments posted on YouTube. “They filed over 70 lawsuits against him since he took the oath of office barely a month ago, over 70 lawsuits to try to stop almost every single thing he’s doing because they don’t want him to get a win. ”
Schimel has also echoed unfounded concerns about unproven voter fraud that Trump raised following his 2020 loss.
Despite all of that, Schimel has repeatedly said he would not let his feelings about Trump impact any rulings he would make on the state Supreme Court, which came one vote away from reversing Trump's loss in Wisconsin in 2020. Trump won the state in both 2016 and 2024.
“If President Trump or anyone defies Wisconsin law and I end up with a case in front of me, I’ll hold them accountable as I would anybody in my courtroom,” Schimel said during a March debate.
Schimel faces Democratic-backed candidate Susan Crawford in the election for an open seat. Liberals currently hold a 4-3 majority on the court. Whoever wins will be elected to a 10-year term that begins in August.
On Truth Social, Trump called Crawford “the handpicked voice of the Leftists who are out to destroy your State, and our Country — And if she wins, the Movement to restore our Nation will bypass Wisconsin.”
A spokesman for Crawford's campaign said, “Schimel has spent his entire career on bent knee to right-wing special interests, we assumed he had this endorsement locked up months ago.”
This isn't the first time Trump has gotten involved in a Wisconsin Supreme Court race. He endorsed the conservative candidate in the 2023 whose loss led to liberals taking control of the court for the first time in 15 years.
Wisconsin Supreme Court candidates Brad Schimel and Susan Crawford participate in a debate Wednesday, March 12, 2025, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)
Former Wisconsin Attorney General and state Supreme Court candidate Brad Schimel, middle, greets Donald Trump Jr., as Charlie Kirk looks on during a town hall Monday, March 17, 2025, in Oconomowoc, Wis. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Phelps)
RHO, Italy (AP) — No ice is colder and harder than speedskating ice. The precision it takes has meant that Olympic speedskaters have never competed for gold on a temporary indoor rink – until the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Games.
In the pursuit of maximum glide and minimum friction, Olympic officials brought on ice master Mark Messer, a veteran of six previous Olympic speedskating tracks and the ice technician in charge of the Olympic Oval in Calgary, Canada — one of the fastest tracks in the world with over 300 records.
Messer has been putting that experience to work one thin layer of ice at a time since the end of October at the new Speed Skating Stadium, built inside adjacent trade fair halls in the city of Rho just north of Milan.
“It’s one of the biggest challenges I’ve had in icemaking,’’ Messer said during an interview less than two weeks into the process.
If Goldilocks were a speedskater, hockey ice would be medium hard, for fast puck movement and sharp turns. Figure skating ice would be softer, allowing push off for jumps and so the ice doesn’t shatter on landing. Curling ice is the softest and warmest of all, for controlled sliding.
For speedskating ice to be just right, it must be hard, cold and clean. And very, very smooth.
“The blades are so sharp, that if there is some dirt, the blade will lose the edge,’’ Messer said, and the skater will lose speed.
Speedskater Enrico Fabris, who won two Olympic golds in Turin in 2006, has traded in his skates to be deputy sports manager at the speedskating venue in Rho. For him, perfect ice means the conditions are the same for all skaters — and then if it's fast ice, so much the better.
"It's more of a pleasure to skate on this ice,'' he said.
Messer’s first Olympics were in Calgary in 1988 — the first time speedskating was held indoors. “That gave us some advantages because we didn’t have to worry about the weather, wind blowing or rain,’’ he said. Now he is upping the challenge by becoming the first ice master to build a temporary rink for the Olympics.
Before Messer arrived in Italy, workers spent weeks setting up insulation to level the floor and then a network of pipes and rubber tubes that carry glycol — an antifreeze — that is brought down to minus 7 or minus 8 degrees Celsius (17.6 to 19.4 degrees Fahrenheit) to make the ice.
Water is run through a purification system — but it can’t be too pure, or the ice that forms will be too brittle. Just the right amount of impurities “holds the ice together,’’ Messer said.
The first layers of water are applied slowly, with a spray nozzle; after the ice reaches a few centimeters it is painted white — a full day’s work — and the stripes are added to make lanes.
“The first one takes about 45 minutes. And then as soon as it freezes, we go back and do it again, and again and again. So we do it hundreds of times,’’ Messer said.
As the ice gets thicker, and is more stable, workers apply subsequent layers of water with hoses. Messer attaches his hose to hockey sticks for easier spreading.
What must absolutely be avoided is dirt, dust or frost — all of which can cause friction for the skaters, slowing them down. The goal is that when the skaters push “they can go as far as possible with the least amount of effort,’’ Messer said.
The Zamboni ice resurfacing machine plays a key role in keeping the track clean, cutting off a layer and spraying water to make a new surface.
One challenge is gauging how quickly the water from the resurfacing machine freezes in the temporary rink.
Another is getting the ice to the right thickness so that the Zamboni, weighing in at six tons, doesn’t shift the insulation, rubber tubing or ice itself.
“When you drive that out, if there’s anything moving it will move. We don’t want that,’’ Messer said.
The rink got its first big test on Nov. 29-30 during a Junior World Cup event. In a permanent rink, test events are usually held a year before the Olympics, leaving more time for adjustments. “We have a very small window to learn,’’ Messer acknowledged.
Dutch speedskater Kayo Vos, who won the men’s neo-senior 1,000 meters, said the ice was a little soft — but Messer didn’t seem too concerned.
“We went very modest to start, now we can start to change the temperatures and try to make it faster and still maintain it as a safe ice,’’ he said.
Fine-tuning the air temperature and humidity and ice temperature must be done methodically — taking into account that there will be 6,000 spectators in the venue for each event. The next real test will be on Jan. 31, when the Olympians take to the ice for their first training session.
“Eighty percent of the work is done but the hardest part is the last 20 percent, where we have to try to find the values and the way of running the equipment so all the skaters get the same conditions and all the skaters get the best conditions,’’ Messer said.
AP Winter Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics
Serpentines are set on the ice of the stadium where speed skating discipline of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics will take place, in Rho, outskirt of Milan, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
Ice Master Mark Messer poses in the stadium where speed skating discipline of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics will take place, in Rho, outskirt of Milan, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
Workers clean the ice surface during a peed skating Junior World Cup and Olympic test event, in Rho, near Milan, Italy, Saturday, Nov. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
Ice Master Mark Messer poses in the stadium where speed skating discipline of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics will take place, in Rho, outskirt of Milan, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
Ice Master Mark Messer poses in the stadium where speed skating discipline of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics will take place, in Rho, outskirt of Milan, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
