US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that he does not want Somali immigrants in the country, telling reporters they should “go back to where they came from” and claiming Somalia is “no good for a reason”. His comments came during a long cabinet meeting at the White House where he repeated that he did not care if his remarks were considered politically incorrect.
The exchange unfolded as federal immigration authorities prepared a major enforcement operation in Minnesota, home to the largest Somali community in the United States. Local officials say the plan has raised fears that lawful residents and American citizens could be caught up in the sweep.
The president’s comments and the planned operation have intensified tensions between the White House and political leaders in Minnesota, who say the move risks targeting people who have lived in the state for decades. Minneapolis and St Paul together host an estimated eighty thousand residents with Somali roots, according to community leaders. Most are American citizens.
During the televised meeting, Trump said the United States would “go the wrong way if we keep taking in garbage into our country”. He went on to describe Somalia as a place “which is barely a country” and claimed it had “no structure”.
He used the moment to criticise Representative Ilhan Omar, a Democrat from Minnesota and the first Somali American elected to Congress. Trump said he “always watches her” and called her “an incompetent person”.
Omar replied on social media, saying, “His obsession with me is creepy. I hope he gets the help he desperately needs.”
A person familiar with the planning told CBS News, a partner of the BBC in the United States, that Immigration and Customs Enforcement had been instructed to focus on undocumented Somali immigrants in the Twin Cities. Hundreds of people could be targeted when the operation begins this week, the source said.
The New York Times first reported the plan. The Department of Homeland Security declined to discuss upcoming enforcement activity but insisted no one would be targeted based on race. Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said, “What makes someone a target of ICE is being in the country illegally.”
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Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey countered that such an operation would put due process at risk. Several Minnesota officials said that a significant share of Somali residents in the state are citizens and warned that the operation could create confusion and fear.
Somali Prime Minister Hamza Abdi Barre said he had been briefed on Trump’s remarks but had not heard them personally. He noted that the president had made similar statements about other African countries, including Nigeria and South Africa.
The prime minister signalled that Mogadishu would avoid escalating the matter. He urged Somalis to respond with “Salaaman”, a phrase drawn from the Qur’an that means replying to offence with peace. “Making an issue out of it and giving it importance is more harmful than simply moving on,” he said.
Minnesota state Senator Zaynab Mohamed wrote on X that ICE agents would find “almost all of us are US citizens”. Governor Tim Walz also criticised the plan, saying it looked more like a public relations stunt than genuine law enforcement. “We welcome support in investigating and prosecuting crime. But pulling a PR stunt and indiscriminately targeting immigrants is not a real solution,” he said.
The operation and the president’s remarks come shortly after the administration’s effort to revoke Temporary Protected Status for Somali nationals. TPS was first granted in 1991 because of the civil conflict in Somalia. Only a few hundred people in Minnesota remain under that status, according to local officials.