Donald Trump capped off 2025 with a vicious social media tirade focusing on Rep. Ilhan Omar and Somalia’s total inhabitants over Minnesota’s ongoing fraud investigations.

The president posted his inflammatory remarks on New Year’s Eve, writing: “Much of the Minnesota Fraud, up to 90%, is caused by people that came into our Country, illegally, from Somalia. ‘Congresswoman’ Omar, an ungrateful loser who only complains and never contributes, is one of the many scammers. Did she really marry her brother? Lowlifes like this can only be a liability to our Country’s greatness. Send them back from where they came, Somalia, perhaps the worst, and most corrupt, country on earth. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!!!”

Trump’s outburst got here after his administration froze $185 million in federal childcare funding to Minnesota following viral allegations about fraudulent daycare operations. The Department of Health and Human Services introduced sweeping adjustments requiring states to supply “justification and receipt or photo evidence” earlier than receiving federal cash.

The controversy exploded when YouTuber Nick Shirley posted a video displaying him visiting federally-supported childcare facilities round Minneapolis and discovering no kids current. His footage, which drew tens of hundreds of thousands of views, alleged almost a dozen daycare facilities weren’t offering companies whereas pocketing taxpayer funds.

But the daycare allegations characterize only one piece of Minnesota’s huge fraud puzzle. Federal prosecutors estimate the overall fraud may exceed $9 billion throughout a number of state applications. The largest scheme concerned Feeding Our Future, a COVID-era nonprofit that prosecutors known as “the largest pandemic-era fraud in the United States.”

Aimee Bock, who based Feeding Our Future, was convicted earlier this yr for operating a $250 million rip-off. The group claimed to distribute meals to colleges and applications however as a substitute submitted faux invoices and meal counts, raking in hundreds of thousands via administrative charges and kickbacks.

Fraud has additionally plagued Minnesota’s housing stabilization program, which officers shut down this summer time after discovering “large-scale fraud.” Eight individuals had been charged with submitting hundreds of thousands in faux payments, together with two Pennsylvanians who allegedly engaged in “fraud tourism” by touring to Minnesota particularly to commit crimes.

The autism companies program confronted comparable issues, with defendants accused of hiring unqualified workers and paying kickbacks to folks who enrolled their kids. Prosecutors stated 14 Medicaid companies are actually underneath audit and deemed “high risk” for fraud.

Donald Trump has repeatedly blamed Minnesota’s Somali neighborhood for the fraud, calling Somali immigrants “garbage” who “contribute nothing.” He ended short-term deportation protections for Somali immigrants and claimed with out proof that “Somali gangs are terrorizing” Minnesota.

Minnesota Governor Tim Walz has confronted intense scrutiny over his administration’s dealing with of the disaster. Walz defended his response, saying officers have “spent years cracking down on fraudsters” and accused Trump of “politicizing the issue to defund programs that help Minnesotans.”

The Treasury Department is investigating whether or not stolen funds reached al-Shabaab, a terrorist group primarily based in Somalia. However, a number of federal investigators advised CBS News there’s no proof taxpayer {dollars} had been straight funneled to terrorists.

Court information present that the defendants bought vehicles, property and luxurious journey with stolen funds. They additionally wired hundreds of thousands abroad, together with almost $3 million to accounts in Kenya and extra funds to banks in China.

Republican Rep. James Comer opened a House Oversight Committee investigation into the fraud and introduced plans for hearings with testimony from Walz and different officers. As the scandal intensified in December, Walz unveiled a brand new statewide fraud prevention program.

Donald Trump and his New Year’s Eve assault on Omar recycled his long-standing false claims about her private life whereas portray a whole immigrant neighborhood as criminals. The president’s inflammatory rhetoric has drawn sharp criticism from Minnesota lawmakers who accused him of demonizing Somali Americans primarily based on the actions of particular person fraudsters.

The fraud investigations have resulted in federal fees in opposition to 92 individuals, with 62 convicted to this point. FBI Director Kash Patel known as the Feeding Our Future case “just the tip of a very large iceberg.”

Related