US President Donald Trump has drawn controversy by alleging that a large public benefits fraud case in Minnesota is overwhelmingly linked to undocumented Somali immigrants, launching a fresh political and racial flashpoint that has drawn sharp responses from state leaders and renewed scrutiny of his long-running attacks on Democratic Congresswoman Ilhan Omar.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump claimed: “Much of the Minnesota Fraud, up to 90%, is caused by people that came into our Country, illegally, from Somalia.” He went on to personally target Omar, calling her an “ungrateful loser” and reviving an unfounded allegation about her marriage, adding: “Lowlifes like this can only be a liability to our Country’s greatness. Send them back from where they came, Somalia.”
Walz pushes back, accuses Trump of politicization
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz’s office responded swiftly after Republican lawmakers invited him to testify before a GOP-led congressional committee in February.
“We’re always happy to work with Congress, though this committee has a track record of holding circus hearings that have nothing to do with the issue at hand,” Walz’s office said in a statement to Fox News. “While the Governor has been working to ensure fraudsters go to prison, the President has been selling pardons to let them out.”
Fraud case and federal crackdown
Federal prosecutors have charged 98 people in what the Justice Department has described as the largest pandemic-related public benefits fraud case in US history. The scheme allegedly diverted about $300 million in grants meant to provide free meals for children — meals prosecutors say never existed.
Attorney General Pam Bondi said this week that 85 of the defendants are “of Somali descent,” while 57 people have already been convicted. The nonprofit Feeding Our Future was at the center of the scheme, according to prosecutors.
Republican officials accuse Minnesota’s Democratic leadership of ignoring early warnings. “When whistleblowers raised concerns, they were told they shouldn’t say anything out of fear of being called racist or Islamophobic,” said Republican state lawmaker Kristin Robbins.
Democrats reject that charge, noting that investigations began years ago and that convictions are ongoing.
Funding freezes and immigration scrutiny
The Trump administration has escalated its response, freezing childcare payments to Minnesota and demanding a comprehensive audit of daycare centers and other social programs.
“We have frozen all child care payments to the state of Minnesota,” Health and Human Services deputy secretary Jim O’Neill wrote on X, citing allegations that the state “funneled millions of taxpayer dollars to fraudulent daycares.”
The Department of Homeland Security said it had dispatched hundreds of investigators to Minneapolis, while FBI Director Kash Patel confirmed the bureau had “surged personnel and investigative resources” to dismantle what he called “large-scale fraud schemes.”
Republican Congressman Tom Emmer went further, calling for “denaturalization and deportation of every Somali engaged in fraud in Minnesota.”
The administration has also ended Temporary Protected Status for Somalis and signaled it may pursue denaturalization in certain cases. “We’re also not afraid to use denaturalization,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Fox News.
Somali community under pressure
Minnesota is home to the largest Somali population in the United States, estimated at around 80,000 people. Immigrant-rights advocates say the fraud investigations are being used to stigmatize the entire community.
Federal officials dispute that characterization, arguing the crackdown is focused on criminal networks, not ethnicity. Still, critics say Trump’s rhetoric risks conflating fraud allegations with immigration status and national origin.
Trump’s long-running feud with Ilhan Omar
Trump’s latest comments revive his long-standing attacks on Representative Ilhan Omar, a Somali-born US citizen who has been one of his most vocal critics.
In September 2025, Omar branded Trump a “lying buffoon” after he claimed he had spoken to Somalia’s president about deporting her. “From denying Somalia had a president to make up a story, President Trump is a lying buffoon,” Omar wrote on X.
Trump has repeatedly questioned Omar’s loyalty and citizenship, suggesting she married her brother to gain US citizenship — an allegation that continues to resurface in his rhetoric.
At the time, Trump also called for Omar’s impeachment and criticized Somalia as “one of the worst, and most corrupt, countries on earth,” remarks that drew widespread condemnation.
