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President Donald Trump on Tuesday delivered some of his harshest rhetoric yet toward Somali immigrants and Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., calling the congresswoman “garbage” and asserting that Somalis should “go back to where they came from,” remarks that immediately intensified criticism from civil rights leaders and Democrats who say he is stoking xenophobia for political gain.
Trump made the comments during a Cabinet meeting at the White House, repeatedly denigrating Somalia as a nation that “stinks” and asserting that its people “contribute nothing,” as he sat beside Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, who one day earlier urged a sweeping new travel ban on what she called “killers, leeches and entitlement junkies.” A source familiar with the proposal said about 30 countries are expected to be included in the forthcoming list.
The president focused much of his ire on Omar, a Somali American progressive who has long been a frequent target of his political attacks.
“I think she’s an incompetent person,” he said. “She’s garbage. Her friends are garbage.” Omar has served in Congress since 2019. Her office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Trump’s remarks coincided with what a senior law enforcement official described as a planned Immigration and Customs Enforcement operation in the Minneapolis–St. Paul area this week. The official said the effort is not specifically aimed at Somalis but acknowledged some Somali nationals could be arrested if found in violation of immigration laws. The operation was first reported by The New York Times.
The comments also came in response to a question about whether Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz should resign over sprawling COVID-era child-nutrition fraud schemes in the state, which federal prosecutors say involved 59 people — many of East African descent — and siphoned more than $1 billion in taxpayer funds.
Trump seized on the scandal to issue sweeping condemnation.
“Somalians ripped off that state for billions of dollars,” he claimed without citing evidence. “They contribute nothing.”
Walz, the 2024 Democratic vice-presidential nominee, told NBC’s Meet the Press on Sunday, the fraudsters “are going to jail” and that demonizing an entire immigrant community “on the actions of a few — it’s lazy.”
“There are roughly 80,000 Somalis in Minnesota,” Walz said. “They fled civil war. They built a vibrant community. They make Minnesota better. But that’s Donald Trump: deflect, demonize, and offer no solutions.”
On Tuesday, Trump again dismissed Walz, calling him “a grossly incompetent man” and saying “there’s something wrong with him.”
The president’s escalating language on immigration comes as his administration promotes new restrictions and as Trump continues leaning into inflammatory cultural flashpoints while reshaping federal law enforcement priorities. Critics warn the rhetoric risks inciting hostility toward immigrant communities already concerned about stepped-up enforcement.
