President Donald Trump demanded that Rep. Ilhan Omar be imprisoned or deported in a Truth Social post Sunday night, Jan. 18, 2026, escalating his long-running attacks on the Minnesota lawmaker after she criticized his administration’s immigration enforcement actions.
The 79-year-old president stated that Omar “should be in jail, or even worse, sent back to Somalia,” tying her to fraud operations in Minnesota without presenting evidence to support the claim. Trump also repeated the claim that Omar married her brother, an accusation she has consistently rejected as “absolutely false and ridiculous.”
Trump’s newest remarks followed Omar’s reminder to voters that Minnesota has rejected him in three consecutive elections. The 43-year-old congresswoman has been outspoken in her criticism of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) after the fatal shooting of Minneapolis resident Renee Good by Jonathan Ross, which Omar described as murder.
Omar became a U.S. citizen in 2000 at age 17. She escaped Somalia’s civil conflict as a child and spent four years in a Kenyan refugee camp before coming to America. The president’s suggestion that she could be deported raises constitutional concerns, as U.S. citizens cannot legally be stripped of their citizenship and expelled from the country.
In his Sunday post, Trump referenced $19 billion in alleged Minnesota fraud, claiming Omar “knows everything there is to know.” He also separately declared that Gov. Tim Walz “should be in cuffs,” although neither Omar nor Walz have been accused of involvement in the fraud schemes. The cases involve falsified claims for feeding children and other services, and Trump shared an article about Somali-Americans transporting cash from Atlanta, Georgia, and Columbus, Ohio, to Minneapolis, Minnesota, before traveling to Dubai, UAE.
The congresswoman is part of the progressive Democratic “Squad,” alongside Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Rashida Tlaib, and Ayanna Pressley. In 2019, Trump told the group to “go back” to their supposed countries of origin, a remark widely condemned as racist. All four are American citizens.
Trump’s focus on Omar has grown since early January amid scrutiny of her financial records. Her latest disclosure indicates she and her husband, Tim Mynett, possess between $6 million and $30 million in assets. Omar has been accused of improperly reporting financial information, including her husband’s stake in a venture capital firm valued between $5 million and $25 million.
The congresswoman earns a congressional salary of $174,000. Questions surrounding the expansion of her wealth have attracted attention from political adversaries and media outlets, though Omar denies misleading the public about her finances.
On December 25, 2025, Trump shared content featuring former Fox News host Megyn Kelly discussing Omar’s citizenship. However, the legal basis for challenging the status of a naturalized citizen of more than 20 years remains unclear.
On January 14, 2026, Trump posted another message insisting that Omar and others “should be thrown out of the USA,” again repeating the claim about her brother.
House Majority Whip Tom Emmer of Minnesota has been involved in conversations about the state’s fraud cases, which have become a major talking point for conservative media and political commentators. The schemes involved fraudulent billing for nonexistent social services, with estimates suggesting that over $1 billion in state funds were stolen across multiple operations.
Omar’s criticisms of ICE have centered on the agency’s actions in Minneapolis and other Minnesota communities. The fatal shooting of the mother of three Renee Good has become central to ongoing debates about immigration enforcement practices, with Omar calling for a full investigation.
Since Omar entered Congress, her relationship with Trump has been combative. The president has repeatedly targeted her in speeches and social media posts, frequently referencing Somalia despite her being an American citizen for decades.
As a Squad member, Omar has been part of a group often singled out by conservative critics who view their progressive positions as outside the mainstream. The four lawmakers have pushed for policies such as Medicare for All, the Green New Deal, and criminal justice reform.
Trump’s social media posts on January 18 and the days that followed reveal his ongoing emphasis on immigration enforcement and fraud allegations in Minnesota, a state that has consistently voted against him in presidential elections. His rhetoric has intensified as ICE operations in the state have sparked protests and criticism from local leaders and residents.