Walz Condemns Trump’s ‘Unprecedented’ Remarks on Minnesota’s Somali Community

Minnesota Governor Tim Walz has strongly condemned President Donald Trump for describing the state’s Somali community as “garbage,” calling such rhetoric “unprecedented for a United States president.”

“We’ve got little children going to school today who their president called them garbage,” said Walz during a briefing on the state’s budget. “Demonizing an entire group of people by their race and their ethnicity, a very group of people who contribute to the vitality — economic, cultural — of this state is something I was hoping we’d never have to see.”

Minnesota is home to the largest Somali population in the United States, with approximately 84,000 people of Somali descent residing in the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area. Nearly 60 percent of Somalis in the state were born in the U.S., while 87 percent of foreign-born Somalis are naturalized citizens.

Trump’s comments about Minnesota’s Somali community have intensified in recent weeks following a report by the conservative outlet City Journal claiming that taxpayer dollars from defrauded government programs were sent to al-Shabab, a Somali militant group affiliated with al-Qaida. While the alleged ringleader of the fraud scheme is white, dozens of people in the Somali community have reportedly been involved.

The controversy has escalated through a series of increasingly harsh statements by the former president. On Thanksgiving, Trump described Minnesota as “a hub of fraudulent money laundering activity” and announced he was terminating Temporary Protected Status for Somalis in the state.

During a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday, Trump said, “We can go one way or the other, and we’re going to go the wrong way if we keep taking in garbage into our country.” He also called Somalia-born Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., “garbage” and said Somalia “stinks.” The following day, Trump told reporters Minnesota had become a “hellhole” because of the Somali community, adding that “Somalians should be out of here. They’ve destroyed our country.”

The Trump administration has also reportedly launched immigration enforcement operations targeting migrants living among Minnesota’s Somali community.

Republican legislative leaders in Minnesota have been hesitant to directly criticize Trump’s comments, though some have suggested he went too far. They’ve also argued that the dispute could have been avoided if Governor Walz had more effectively addressed fraud in social service programs.

“In no way do I believe any community is all bad. Just like I don’t believe any community is all good. What we need to do is call the fraudsters in any community accountable for their actions and stop it here in the state of Minnesota,” said Republican Minnesota House Speaker Lisa Demuth, who is running for governor and reportedly hopes to secure Trump’s endorsement.

State Senator Eric Pratt, a Republican running for Congress, offered mild criticism of Trump’s rhetoric while expressing agreement with the underlying concerns. “It wasn’t said the way that I would have said it,” Pratt stated. “But what I will say is, I share the president’s frustration in the amount of fraud and corruption that’s effectively gone on in the state.”

The exchange is the latest in a pattern of heated rhetoric between Trump and Walz. The president has previously called the Minnesota governor “grossly incompetent” and a “mess,” while Walz has labeled Trump a “wannabe dictator” and a “cruel man.”

The controversy highlights continuing tensions over immigration policy and the integration of refugee communities in Minnesota, issues likely to remain prominent as both state and national election campaigns advance in the coming months.