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Democratic Gov. Tim Walz on Thursday sharply condemned President Donald Trump for denigrating Minnesota’s Somali community as “garbage” and calling the state a “hellhole,” accusing the president of using inflammatory rhetoric that stigmatizes children and fuels fear among one of the nation’s largest immigrant communities.
Walz said Trump “slandered all Minnesotans” and crossed a line no modern president has crossed. “We’ve got little children going to school today who their president called them garbage,” Walz said, adding that Trump’s contempt for the state’s Somali population — nearly 84,000 residents — was “unprecedented for a United States president.”
While Republican legislative leaders declined to join Walz in condemning Trump, they offered their own political pivot: blaming Walz for failing to prevent fraud in certain state-run social service programs. Their response underscored how Trump’s escalating rhetoric has put local GOP leaders in a difficult position — seeking his favor while navigating the backlash his comments ignited across Minnesota.
Trump escalates attacks tied to disputed fraud claims
Trump’s criticism intensified after the conservative magazine City Journal alleged without evidence that money stolen from Minnesota anti-poverty programs had been funneled to the East African militant group al-Shabab. Federal authorities have not corroborated that claim.
Over Thanksgiving, Trump labeled Minnesota “a hub of fraudulent money laundering activity” and said he was terminating Temporary Protected Status for Somali nationals — a designation typically lifted only after a formal review of conditions in the originating country.
During a Cabinet meeting this week, Trump went further, declaring he did not want immigrants from Somalia to remain in the U.S. “We’re going to go the wrong way if we keep taking in garbage into our country,” he said. A day later, he told reporters Minnesota had become a “hellhole” and claimed without evidence that “Somalians should be out of here. They’ve destroyed our country.”
Immigration enforcement ramping up
Federal officials have prepared an immigration enforcement operation in Minnesota targeting Somali nationals without legal status, according to a person familiar with the planning. Walz estimated roughly 300 Somali Minnesotans fall under Temporary Protected Status, while state leaders and community advocates said they have no clear information on how many people have been detained.
Nearly 58% of Somali Minnesotans were born in the U.S., and 87% of foreign-born Somalis in the state are naturalized citizens, according to census data — a reality that contradicts Trump’s broad insinuations about deportation targets.
Fraud concerns remain murky
Republicans continued tying Trump’s remarks to large-scale fraud cases in Minnesota, even as state and federal prosecutors emphasized that such schemes involve a mix of defendants — many of them U.S. citizens, some Somali American, others not.
Joe Thompson, the federal prosecutor who led the Feeding Our Future investigation, estimated the total fraud across several programs could reach $1 billion. Walz said an audit due in late January “certainly could” confirm that figure but argued his administration is already tightening oversight.
“This is a state that is confronting fraud aggressively,” Walz said. “What we don’t need is the president demonizing an entire community because of it.”
Republicans tread cautiously
GOP House Speaker Lisa Demuth, who is running for governor and seeking Trump’s endorsement, avoided criticizing the president directly. “In no way do I believe any community is all bad,” she said. “Fraudsters in any community must be held accountable.”
State Sen. Eric Pratt, a Republican running for Congress, went slightly further. “It wasn’t said the way that I would have said it,” he said of Trump’s remarks, while adding he shares the president’s “frustration” over fraud cases.
Outrage grows in other states
Minnesota lawmakers were not alone in denouncing Trump. Leaders in Ohio — home to the second-largest Somali population in the U.S. — condemned the president’s statements as dangerous and racially charged.
“Our Somali neighbors deserve to live in a state where they are respected for their contributions,” said state Rep. Terrence Upchurch, who chairs the Ohio Legislative Black Caucus. The Ohio Jewish Caucus called Trump’s language “xenophobic, dangerous and wholly unacceptable.”
