Washington DC, United States – In Washington, United States President Donald Trump issued sharp criticism against Somalis while addressing reporters after a Cabinet meeting at the White House. He described Somalis as “people with something wrong with them,” those who “have no country,” and who “only know how to kill each other.”
President Trump intensified his verbal assault, declaring: “When I see someone named Ilhan Omar, someone I don’t know but have watched for years she complains about our country and our Constitution and says this is a bad nation. She is a bad person who doesn’t do her job.”
Discussing Minnesota, President Trump blamed Somalis for “destroying a once-beautiful state” and “draining its economy.” He alleged they cost the country “billions of dollars every year” and “bring nothing to the United States.” He further stated that “88% of refugee funds go to them,” adding, “To be honest, I don’t want them to stay in this country.”
Employing widely condemned language, President Trump asserted “Somalia smells or is a rotten place,” cautioning that America “will end up in a bad place if garbage people are gathered here.” He singled out Ilhan Omar as “garbage” and called “her friends garbage,” charging them with doing “nothing but complain, even though nothing exists where they came from.”
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, city council member Jamal Osman, and Police Chief Brian O’Hara later spoke to reporters, voicing alarm over Trump’s remarks. Officials emphasized that Minneapolis police “do not assist federal immigration enforcement” in light of reports about federal operations targeting Somali residents.
President Trump’s statements and the reactions have amplified fears within Somali communities in Minnesota and throughout the United States, fueling worries about profiling, discrimination, and heightened legal pressures.
The Somali government has not responded to Trump’s comments, in which he depicted Somalia as “a place where nothing exists.”
