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What began earlier this month as a viral White House jab at Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) has now turned into a broader campaign offensive, with President Donald Trump doubling down on his criticism of the Somali-born congresswoman and the Somali refugee community in the United States.
Omar said during an October appearance on The Dean Obeidallah Show that she was not worried about losing her U.S. citizenship or being sent back to Somalia, where she was born.
âI have no worry, I donât know how theyâd take away my citizenship and like deport me,â Omar said. âBut I donât even know why thatâs such a scary threat. Iâm not the 8-year-old who escaped war anymore. Iâm grown, my kids are grown. I could go live wherever I want.â
On Nov. 10, the White House posted on X a 2024 photo of Trump waving from a McDonaldâs drive-thru window, replying to a clip in which Omar said she was unconcerned about being deported.
The photo â taken during a campaign stop in Pennsylvania â quickly circulated online and was widely interpreted as a taunting âgood-byeâ message aimed at the Minnesota lawmaker.
Now, the feud has reignited. Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, Trump referenced the allegation that Omar had entered the U.S. through a fraudulent marriage.
âShe supposedly came into our country by marrying her brother,â he said. âIf thatâs true, she shouldnât be a congresswoman, and we should throw her the hell out of the country.â
The president also broadened his remarks to criticize Somali immigration overall.
âSomalis have caused us a lot of trouble, and they cost us a lot of money,â Trump said. âWhat the hell are we paying Somalia for? We have Ilhan Omar who does nothing but complain about our Constitution and our country! Weâre not taking their people anymore â in fact, weâre sending them back.â
Trump has often accused Omar of being âanti-American,â previously telling her and other progressive âSquadâ members to âgo backâ to their âbroken and crime-infested countries.â Omar responded earlier this month by calling Trump a âlying buffoonâ and saying his story about Somaliaâs president refusing to take her back was fabricated.
The White House has signaled that it will not walk back the presidentâs latest statements. A senior aide said Trump was âreminding voters that Americaâs generosity should never be repaid with contempt.â
Omarâs family fled Somaliaâs civil war in 1991 and spent several years in a Kenyan refugee camp before settling in the United States. She was elected to Congress in 2018, becoming one of the first Muslim women and the first Somali-American to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives.
The renewed confrontation underscores the political tension between Trump and radical members of the âSquad.â It comes amidst growing concerns about immigration policy and the vetting of immigrants in the aftermath of an Afghan refugeeâs shooting of two National Guard members over the Thanksgiving holiday.
