Trump says Ilhan Omar could face jail or deportation and attacks Somalia

Summary

President Donald Trump renewed his attacks on Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, calling her "sick" and "dishonest" a week after federal agents raided her home. Speaking at the White House on Tuesday, Trump said that when asked whether she could be deported over questions about her immigration records, she "could also go to jail." He described Somalia, Omar's birth country, in profane terms, which Middle East Eye quoted as "a real shithouse," and said she comes from a place that is "essentially not even a country." He also questioned her understanding of constitutional rights and suggested that Somali immigrants had damaged Minnesota, the state she represents. Omar, who fled Somalia as a child and arrived in the US as a refugee in 1995, has repeatedly denied wrongdoing in a criminal fraud investigation into her immigration paperwork, calling the allegations false and politically motivated. Middle East Eye wrote that the remarks escalated Trump's long-running campaign against her and highlighted concern about how normalised racist and xenophobic rhetoric has become in US politics.

Timeline

1. The National

   20 Oct 2026, 20:25 UTCSource ↗

   Reports that Trump said on Tuesday in an Oval Office event that Omar could go to jail, called her "a sick and very dishonest person" who "hates our country", and noted that federal agents raided her home this month amid a criminal fraud investigation into her immigration paperwork.

2. Al Jazeera

   20 Oct 2026, 20:32 UTCSource ↗

   Reports that Donald Trump called Congresswoman Ilhan Omar "sick" and "dishonest" a week after federal agents raided her home, and said she could be deported.

3. Middle East Eye

   21 Oct 2026, 18:48 UTCSource ↗

   Reports that Trump said at the White House on Tuesday that Omar could face deportation or imprisonment, called Somalia a "shithouse", and questioned her understanding of constitutional rights.