A fresh round of intense escalation has erupted between US President Donald Trump’s team and Democratic Representative Ilhan Omar, triggered by a controversial statement from Trump regarding Somali immigrants.
President Trump stated that he did not want Somali immigrants in the US, alleging that residents of the war-ravaged Eastern African country rely heavily on the US social safety net and “contribute nothing” to the country.
Trump Targets Ilhan Omar and Somali Diaspora
Speaking near the end of a lengthy Cabinet meeting, President Trump launched a tirade against the Somali community in the US, which has been settling in Minnesota and other states, often as refugees, since the 1990s.
- Against Somalia: Trump claimed: “You look at what he’s done with Somalia where Somalia, which is barely a country — they have no anything, they just run around killing each other.” He added: “Their country is no good for a reason. Your country stinks and we don’t want them in our country.”
- Targeting Omar: Trump specifically mentioned the Minnesota Democrat, who emigrated from Somalia in 1995 as a child, stating, “When I see somebody like Ilhan Omar, I always watch her, for years I’ve watched her complain about our Constitution…”
- Vowing Deportation: Trump has vowed to send Somalis “back to where they came from,” and alleged Minnesota, which is home to the largest Somali community in the United States, is “a hub of fraudulent money laundering activity.” On Tuesday, he stressed that Somalis in the U.S. should “go back to where they came from and fix it.”
The President’s comments come days after his administration announced it is halting all asylum decisions following the shooting of two National Guard soldiers in Washington last week. While the suspect in that incident is an Afghan national, Trump has used the moment to raise broader questions about immigrants from various nations, including Somalia.
Team Trump Hits Back with Personal Attack
Representative Omar responded to Trump’s tirade against the Somali diaspora by terming the President’s “obsession” with her as “creepy.”
However, Team Trump’s official “Rapid Response 47” account on X quickly snubbed her, recycling an old, unsubstantiated allegation of her involvement in immigration fraud. The post read simply: “Why did you marry your brother?”
The Basis for the Renewed Feud
The renewed round of verbal warfare began last week after conservative activist Christopher Rufo published unsubstantiated allegations in City Journal, citing unnamed sources, claiming that money stolen from Minnesota programs has been funneled to al-Shabab, an al-Qaida-linked militant group in Somalia.
The long-running verbal face-off between Trump and Omar—a prominent figure in the Democratic party—shows no signs of abating as the administration pushes its hardline stance on immigration.