Trump Says Rep. Ilhan Omar Should Be ‘In Jail’ or ‘Sent Back to Somalia’

President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social that Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar should be jailed or removed from the country, as tensions continue to rise in Minnesota amid increased federal law enforcement activity and clashes between agents and civilians.

Trump, 79, has criticized Omar, 43, publicly in the past. In his Sunday, Jan. 18 post, he alleged widespread fraud tied to Minnesota’s Somali community and directed his remarks at the congresswoman.

“There is 19 Billion Dollars in Minnesota Somalia Fraud. Fake ‘Congresswoman’ Illhan Omar, a constant complainer who hates the USA, knows everything there is to know,” Trump wrote. “She should be in jail, or even a worse punishment, sent back to Somalia, considered one of the absolutely worst countries in the World. She could help to MAKE SOMALIA GREAT AGAIN!”

The administration has pointed to fraud allegations as justification for expanding federal enforcement operations in Minnesota, which is home to the largest Somali population in the U.S. The heightened federal presence has contributed to confrontations between law enforcement and civilians, including two shootings in Minneapolis this month, one of which resulted in the death of Renee Nicole Good.

Omar, who has been a U.S. citizen since 2000, was born in Mogadishu, Somalia. After her family was sponsored for asylum in 1995, they arrived in Virginia and later moved to Minneapolis. She became the first Somali American in Congress and the first woman of color to represent Minnesota when she was elected to the House in 2019.

Omar did not issue a direct public response to Trump’s Truth Social post. Instead, she marked Martin Luther King Jr. Day by sharing a quote from the late civil rights leader on X.

“’Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.’ I’m thinking of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s words today as we see the immense love our community has for one another, especially in this time of deep injustice,” she wrote in a Monday, Jan. 19 post.

Omar’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Monday.

Trump also previously made remarks about Omar and Somali immigrants during a December 2025 Cabinet meeting, according to reporting that followed the meeting. During a discussion about immigration and Minnesota’s Somali community, he said, “I don’t want them in our country. I’ll be honest with you … Somebody will say, ‘Oh, that’s not politically correct.’ I don’t care. I don’t want them in our country.”

He continued, “Their country is no good for a reason. Their country stinks, and we don’t want them in our country,” before adding that the U.S. had reached a “tipping point,” and could “go the wrong way if we keep taking in garbage into our country.”

At another point in the meeting, he reportedly said, “Ilhan Omar is garbage. Her friends are garbage,” adding, “These aren’t people that work. These aren’t people that say, ‘Let’s go, come on, let’s make this place great.’ These are people that do nothing but complain.”

“You know, if they came from paradise, and they said, ‘This isn’t paradise,’ but when they come from hell and they complain and do nothing but b—-, we don’t want them in our country. Let them go back to where they came from and fix it,” he said.

Those comments surfaced after a New York Times report described federal prosecutors charging dozens of people with felonies in Minnesota related to an alleged fraud case in the state.

Omar later reposted some of Trump’s comments on X and responded, writing: “His obsession with me is creepy. I hope he gets the help he desperately needs.”