A recent exchange between President Donald Trump and Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) has drawn renewed attention, after comments from the president were interpreted as renewed criticism of the Minnesota congresswoman and aspects of Somali immigration to the United States.
During an October appearance on The Dean Obeidallah Show, Omar said she did not feel concerned about the possibility of losing her U.S. citizenship or being deported, noting that she was no longer the child who fled conflict and that she could choose to live wherever she wished.
On November 10, the White House posted on X a photo of Trump taken during a 2024 campaign stop, responding to the interview clip. The image circulated widely online and was broadly viewed as a reaction to Omar’s remarks.
Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, Trump revisited previous allegations related to how Omar first entered the United States. He said that if any of the claims were verified, they would warrant clarification. The president also commented more generally on U.S. immigration policy regarding Somalia, suggesting that overall costs and administrative challenges associated with current processes should be reviewed.
Omar rejected the president’s statements, calling them unfounded and politically motivated.
Omar’s family left Somalia during the civil war in 1991, spent several years in a refugee camp in Kenya, and later resettled 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.