Trump urges Minnesotans to ‘fight back’ against Somali immigrants

President Donald Trump escalated his long-standing criticism of Somali Americans on Thursday, using a Truth Social post to call on residents of Minnesota to resist the state's Somali community. The state has the largest Somali population in the country, which makes the message especially pointed there, according to NBC News.

Trump asserted that Minnesota, which he described as formerly great, was being overrun by Somali immigrants, and he insisted the state's residents had to push back. He claimed Somalis regarded Minnesotans as weak and foolish, and he said they should not be permitted to escape consequences for their conduct. He also promised that the federal government would step in to help if Minnesotans needed it.

NBC News reports that his language about Somalis in Minnesota has grown harsher since coverage last year of fraud cases in which dozens of people of Somali descent were convicted. In the period since, the president has labeled Somalis "crooks" and has offered a string of insults aimed at Somalia itself. His attacks on the Somali community go back to his first term in office.

Summarized by PolitiKool from NBC News’s reporting. Read the full story at NBC News →