Late Friday night, President Trump dropped a political thunderbolt: he terminated Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for thousands of Somali nationals living in Minnesota.
The decision — effective immediately — comes on the heels of explosive revelations about large-scale fraud in the state’s sprawling welfare and aid network, with investigators alleging that taxpayer dollars were siphoned off and ultimately funneled to the al-Shabaab terror organization.
“Minnesota, under (Democrat) Governor (Tim Walz), is a hub of fraudulent money laundering activity,” Trump announced on his Truth Social media platform. “I am, as President of the United States, hereby terminating, effective immediately, the Temporary Protected Status (TPS Program) for Somalis in Minnesota.”
“Somali gangs are terrorizing the people of that great State, and BILLIONS of Dollars are missing. Send them back to where they came from,” he declared. “It’s OVER!”
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) November 22, 2025
With Minnesota still staggering from the $250 million Feeding Our Future scandal — the largest COVID-era fraud case in the nation — and new reports of terror-finance pipelines operating through pockets of the state’s Somali diaspora, Trump’s TPS termination is a direct warning shot at a progressive stronghold that has allowed its welfare systems to be abused on an astonishing scale.
A bombshell City Journal report this week made the Feeding Our Future fraud look like pocket change. According to the investigation, Minnesota has hemorrhaged billions in taxpayer dollars during Walz’s tenure — an avalanche of waste and fraud made possible by the state’s sprawling, loosely monitored welfare programs. And yes, many of the individuals charged or under investigation in these schemes have come from within networks tied to the state’s large Somali immigrant population.
These actors exploited one of the most generous benefits systems in America: Minnesota’s Medicaid Housing Stabilization Services program, a program practically designed for manipulation thanks to lax oversight and endless cash.
Meanwhile, Democratic officials looked away, and the local media — ever eager to protect the Walz administration — downplayed warning signs for years.
We’re not talking about a few bad grants or a handful of shady invoices — we’re talking billions of taxpayer dollars evaporating into a welfare system that Minnesota’s political leadership refuses to police. And it gets even worse.
According to federal counterterrorism sources who spoke with City Journal, millions of those stolen dollars were funneled overseas to Somalia — where they ultimately ended up in the hands of the Islamist terror group al-Shabaab. One confidential source told the outlet, “The largest funder of Al-Shabaab is the Minnesota taxpayer.”
EXCLUSIVE: @RK_Thorpe and I have new reporting on America’s Somali fraud rings, which have stolen billions in taxpayer funds—and sent some to Islamist terrorists back home.
“The Largest Funder of Al-Shabaab Is the Minnesota Taxpayer.”https://t.co/RDgnKXAnyP
— Christopher F. Rufo ?? (@christopherrufo) November 19, 2025
A defiant Rep. Ilhan Omar (D–MN), never one to pass up a chance to posture online, jumped into the fray on X to lash out at President Trump’s decision to terminate TPS for Somali nationals living in Minnesota.
“I am a citizen and so are (the) majority of Somalis in America. Good luck celebrating a policy change that really doesn’t have much impact on the Somalis you love to hate,” she fired back. “We are here to stay.”
I am a citizen and so are majority of Somalis in America. Good luck celebrating a policy change that really doesn’t have much impact on the Somalis you love to hate. We are here to stay ????? https://t.co/JHSO3PKL6O
— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) November 22, 2025
Minnesota’s 5th Congressional District — covering most of Minneapolis as well as surrounding areas in Hennepin and Ramsey counties — contains the largest Somali American population in the entire country. It’s no surprise, then, that Trump’s decision hits directly at the political base Rep. Ilhan Omar has relied on for years.
Back in June, President Trump tightened restrictions on foreign nationals coming from Somalia, citing the country’s long-standing instability and its role as a safe haven for terrorist factions. It was one of several national-security steps he took regarding high-risk regions.
Omar herself arrived in the United States in 1995 at age 12 after fleeing Somalia’s civil war. She and her family spent four years in a refugee camp in Kenya before being resettled in the U.S.
Trump has never shied away from highlighting the contrast between Omar’s own escape to America and her frequent criticisms of the country. He’s repeatedly pointed out — in blunt Trump fashion — that if she thinks the United States is irredeemably flawed, she has the freedom to book a flight back to the place she fled.
“I love these people. They come from a place with nothing. Nothing. No anything,” Trump said following a failed attempt to censure the congresswoman. “And then they tell us how to run our country.”
