Overview
- At a Mount Pocono event, President Trump mocked Rep. Ilhan Omar’s hijab, repeated the disputed claim that she married her brother, and urged that she be “gotten the hell out,” as supporters chanted “send her back.”
- Trump described Somalia as “filthy” and “the worst country,” broadening recent rhetoric that has targeted Somali immigrants in Minnesota after sweeping fraud cases drew national attention.
- Federal prosecutors in Minnesota have charged 78 people, mostly of Somali descent, in schemes alleged to have stolen hundreds of millions to over $1 billion from social-service programs.
- The administration has moved to curb immigration benefits, including announcing an end to Temporary Protected Status for Somalis in Minneapolis and launching ICE’s Operation Metro Surge, which has detained at least 19 people, eight of them Somali.
- Omar has denied the marriage allegation and condemned Trump’s language, while investigators continue to probe whether stolen funds were routed overseas, a developing line of inquiry that has not produced terrorism charges; separate reporting in Maine details whistleblower claims of Medicaid billing fraud at Gateway Community Services tied to Somali-led leadership.