Trump denigrates Walz, Omar, Somalis as feds focus on Minnesota

As several federal agencies continue to focus on Minnesota, President Donald Trump took a few minutes Tuesday to disparage some state leaders and the Somali community.

The president, during a Cabinet meeting at the White House, called Gov. Tim Walz “grossly incompetent” before turning his attention to U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), whom he called “garbage” and “incompetent.”

Shortly after sources confirmed to ABC News that an influx of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents are preparing to come to Minnesota and focus on Somali immigrants, Trump also denigrated the Somali community.

RELATED: ICE agents to descend on Twin Cities as soon as this week, sources tell ABC News

“They contribute nothing,” the president claimed, adding, “I don’t want them in our country.”

Trump and other members of his administration have blamed the Somali community for stealing “billions” of dollars from Minnesota, mainly referencing the Feeding Our Future fraud scandal. However, federal prosecutors put the estimated loss from those cases at around $250-$300 million, not in the billions. Adding in other statewide fraud cases, a U.S. attorney acknowledged the scope of fraud could exceed $1 billion.

A total of 78 people have been charged in connection to the scheme, which prosecutors say is the largest COVID-related fraud case in the country. Many are still working their way through the court system, and the number of defendants and theft estimates may continue to rise.

KSTP’s Full Feeding Our Future Coverage

While many of the Feeding Our Future defendants are Somali, most are U.S. citizens legally in the country, and the founder of Feeding Our Future, whom prosecutors called the ringleader, is white.

Minnesota has the largest American Somali population in the country. The last count from Minnesota Compass showed nearly 80,000 Somali residents in Minnesota — roughly 1.3% of the state’s population. It’s estimated that fewer than 1% of those 80,000 residents have Temporary Protected Status (TPS), so the vast majority are legal citizens, and over half were born in the U.S., according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Still, Trump and his administration have focused on Somali Minnesotans.

Last week, Trump directed the Department of Homeland Security to reconsider temporary protected status for Somalia, affecting about 700 Somali nationals living in the U.S. Monday night, the U.S. Treasury secretary said his department is looking into claims that Minnesota tax dollars may have been diverted to the terrorist group Al-Shabaab. On Tuesday, hours before news of the ICE operation targeting Somali immigrants in Minnesota surfaced, Small Business Administrator Kelly Loeffler said she “ordered an investigation into the network of Somali organizations and executives” tied to fraud in the state.

5 EYEWITNESS NEWS has extensively covered the Feeding Our Future cases and has yet to see any charges against defendants for providing support to foreign terrorist organizations.

RELATED: Small Business Administration head Kelly Loeffler orders investigation into Minnesota COVID fraud

Many Minnesota leaders, including the mayors of Minneapolis and St. Paul, have condemned Trump’s rhetoric toward the Somali community.

Trump has long publicly attacked Omar, who is herself a Somali Minnesotan, and other Democrats, who have pushed back against the president, too. Omar’s reelection campaign on Tuesday called Trump’s comments “disgusting and dangerous,” and a “distraction from the fact that Trump’s first year in office has been a disaster.” The representative also tweeted, “His obsession with me is creepy. I hope he gets the help he desperately needs.”

Walz said Tuesday that it’s “not a coincidence that (federal agencies are) targeting Minnesota” and added, “This is who they are.” He also said, “This is a president in spiral,” and has thrown more barbs at the president in the past.

Meanwhile, the Somali community is on edge, with one community leader telling 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS that fearful calls pour in by the hour.

“We, the Somali community, are always against anyone who is breaking the law, and we would be supportive to treat those criminals, the way they should be. We don’t have anything against that,” Eid Ali said. “But I mean, this is a large community, and I don’t think it’s fair that we just characterize or just put a blanket on all of them to say that these are elements of criminals.”

The Associated Press contributed to this story.
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