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somalia
![People gathered for a traditional Somali wedding in the banquet room at the Safari Restaurant and Banquet Center at 4th Ave. and Lake Street, Minneapolis, Friday afternoon, July 29th, 2011.] Bruce Bisping/Star Tribune.](https://www.commondreams.org/media-library/people-gathered-for-a-traditional-somali-wedding-in-the-banquet-room-at-the-safari-restaurant-and-banquet-center-at-4th-ave-and.jpg?id=62230790&width=1245&height=700&quality=70&coordinates=0%2C175%2C0%2C176)
From Minneapolis to Somalia: Here’s Everything Trump Gets Wrong About Somalis
Somalis are not the first to be victims of Trump’s racism, xenophobia, and Islamophobia, nor will they be the last. We must stand with the Somali community against Trump’s bigotry and prejudice.
Feb 22, 2026
Over the past several months, President Donald Trump has launched a tirade of racist, xenophobic, and Islamophobic attacks demonizing Somalis and Somalia. If Trump weren’t the president, his ignorant and incoherent ramblings would not be worth addressing; unfortunately, he is. So, let’s go over everything Trump gets wrong about Somalis.
Somalis, Minneapolis, and Trump’s Domestic Fearmongering
In December 2025, Trump told reporters that Somalis have “destroyed Minnesota.” He contends that Minnesota is “a hellhole right now. The Somalians should be out of here. They’ve destroyed our country. And all they do is complain, complain, complain.” According to Trump, the roughly 80,000 people of Somali descent living in Minnesota have somehow destroyed a state with over 5.7 million people—a state that ranked fourth in the 2025 Best States ranking from US News & World Report.
In January 2026, Trump deployed 3,000 federal agents to Minneapolis as part of an immigration enforcement effort primarily targeting Somalis. However, 58% of Somalis in Minnesota were born in the US. Of foreign-born Somalis, 87% are naturalized US citizens. There are roughly 5,000 people of Somali descent in the state who are noncitizens, but this includes people who are on visas, green card holders, permanent residents, those on Temporary Protected Status (TPS), asylum-seekers as well as undocumented immigrants. Jaylani Hussein, the executive director of the Council of American-Islamic Relations’ Minnesota Chapter (CAIR-MN), estimates that the number of undocumented Somali immigrants in the state is “less than a thousand for sure.”
Trump claims, “Somali gangs are terrorizing the people of that great State.” Yet, while the Somali population in Minnesota has grown in recent decades, the state’s violent crime rate is 28.5% lower than the US average. The rate of property crime is 8.7% lower. Compared to native-born Americans, Somali immigrants aged 18-54 have a lower incarceration rate. By contrast, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol are kidnapping, assaulting, maiming, and killing citizens and noncitizens alike. Trump’s gangs are actively terrorizing the people of Minnesota.
Trump complains that Omar is “always talking about the Constitution.” He forgets that the Constitution should always be first and foremost on the mind of an elected official.
Trump alleges that “much of the Minnesota Fraud, up to 90%, is caused by people that came into our Country, illegally, from Somalia.” Yet, Attorney General Pamela Bondi reports that the Department of Justice has been investigating fraud in Minnesota for months and thus far has only “charged 98 individuals—85 of Somali descent—and more than 60 have been found guilty in court.” While the government should investigate these crimes and hold the responsible parties accountable, the Trump administration has offered no evidence that Somalis en masse are guilty of rampant and widespread fraud.
Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) is a frequent victim of Trump’s anti-Somali rhetoric. Trump has referred to her as a “fake congresswoman,” “garbage,” “disgusting,” and a “disgraceful person, a loser.” Even when responding to the murder of Alex Pretti by Border Patrol, Trump randomly and nonsensically attacks Omar: “Why does Ilhan Omar have $34 Million Dollars in her account?” On January 26, Trump announced that the Department of Justice is investigating why Omar’s net worth has grown since taking office. Yet, the reason for this is well-documented: As her 2025 Financial Disclosure Report makes clear, the change is due to her spouse’s business holdings. By contrast, Trump is illegally exploiting his political office to enrich himself and his family.
Trump complains that Omar is “always talking about the Constitution.” He forgets that the Constitution should always be first and foremost on the mind of an elected official. In fact, Trump could learn a lot from her!
Somalia, Imperialism, and US Military Violence
At the 2026 Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum, Trump ranted: “The situation in Minnesota reminds us that the West cannot mass import foreign cultures, which have failed to ever build a successful society of their own. I mean, we’re taking people from Somalia, and Somalia is a failed—it’s not a nation.” Yet, Somali immigrants were not ‘imported,’ they were displaced. The political situation in Somalia is the byproduct of many factors including imperialism and US military interventions.
Starting in the late 1960s, Somalia implemented a number of progressive policies, including widening access to primary education, mass literacy campaigns, and public health initiatives. These policies were fueling social and economic development, especially in rural areas. However, Somalia’s growing ties with the Soviet Union and its embrace of Soviet-style policies worried the US.
Since the 1960s, Somalia and Ethiopia became increasingly entangled in Cold War politics that fueled political instability in the region for decades. As sociocultural anthropologist Ahmed Ibrahim writes: “Cold War geopolitical machinations partly created the contextual background to the 1977-78 Somalia-Ethiopia war. Somalia’s defeat in this war set the stage for the disintegration of the state in 1991.” Notably, 1991 marked the start of the Somali Civil War as well as the collapse of the Soviet Union—this was no coincidence.
Trump claims that in Somalia people “just run around killing each other. There’s no structure.” His vitriol overlooks the role of US military violence—and his presidency in particular—in fomenting that social and political instability.
While the Soviet Union had initially supported both Somalia and Ethiopia, after their war, it shifted its attention entirely to the latter. At that point, the US began providing a weakened Somalia its aid in the hopes of using them to combat Soviet influence in the region. In the early 1990s, with Moscow now politically and economically weakened, the US no longer saw any value in maintaining that dependency relationship. Instead, they began condemning the human rights abuses taking place in Somalia—abuses the US had known about but chosen to ignore until then.
In 1993, the US, with support from the United Nations, launched a military mission to disarm and arrest Somali militia members. Many civilians were caught in the crosshairs. In particular, US airstrikes killed a group of political leaders, religious leaders, intellectuals, and businesspeople meeting to discuss a UN peace proposal. Those strikes sparked massive outcry and triggered a wave of retaliatory attacks against US and UN troops. The growing violence fueled mass displacement and migration out of Somalia. The mid and late-1990s saw the largest influx of Somali immigrants arriving in the US, predominantly Minnesota.
Importantly, US military presence in Somalia continues in the name of counterterrorism and "supporting" the central government in Mogadishu. However, as is often the case, the US has contributed to the very political instability and violence it purports to be solving. The Trump administration has been particularly devastating. His administration carried out 219 military strikes in Somalia during his first term. So far, in his second, the US has conducted 162. By comparison, under President George W. Bush, President Barack Obama, and President Joe Biden, the US launched 110 strikes in total.
According to the nonprofit watchdog Airwars, since 2007, US airstrikes have killed an estimated 93 to 170 civilians, including 25 to 28 children. In September 2025, a US drone strike killed Omar Abdullahi, a prominent political leader who played a key role in local governance, including rallying support against insurgents and gathering supplies to support government operations.
Trump claims that in Somalia people “just run around killing each other. There’s no structure.” His vitriol overlooks the role of US military violence—and his presidency in particular—in fomenting that social and political instability.
Somalis as Scapegoats
Ultimately, none of these facts matter to Trump. Even if you could educate him about the history and political situation in Somalia; or the many cultural and economic contributions people of Somali descent have made to Minnesota or the US more broadly, he would almost certainly continue to villainize them—why? Because as a small population of predominantly Muslim people of color living in a state Trump lost three times in a row, Somalis are an easy and useful scapegoat.
The “Somali fraud network” narrative becomes the pretext that allows the Trump administration to invade Minnesota, terrorize its civilians, and then send its governor a “ransom note” with a list of demands including access to the state’s voter rolls. Trump, a fraudster himself, can exploit this fraud narrative to make himself appear tough on crime and immigration enforcement; while, at the same time, pardoning people like David Gentile who defrauded thousands of investors as part of a $1.6 billion Ponzi scheme.
Somalis are not the first to be victims of Trump’s racism, xenophobia, and Islamophobia, nor will they be the last. We must stand with the Somali community against Trump’s bigotry and prejudice. We must correct the misperception that Trump’s vile rhetoric is trying desperately to normalize. We cannot allow his hatred to win.
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All UN Security Council Members Except US Join Somalia in Condemning Israel's Recognition of Somaliland
Somalia's UN ambassador said Israel plans to “relocate the Palestinian population from Gaza to the northwestern region of Somalia," and warned that "this utter disdain for law and morality must be stopped now."
Dec 30, 2025
At an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council on Monday regarding Israel's recognition of the breakaway region of Somaliland, 14 of 15 member states joined Somalia's permanent representative to the UN in condemning what the ambassador called an “act of aggression"—and at least one denounced the Trump administration's defense of Israel's move.
The emergency summit was called days after Israel announced its formal recognition of the region, which declared independence in 1991 after a civil war, but which has not been acknowledged by any other country. Somalia continues to claim Somaliland as part of the country while the region's leaders say the state is the successor to the former British protectorate.
Israel announced its decision months after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke with leaders in Somaliland about a potential deal to trade formal recognition of the region for help with illegally deporting Palestinians from Gaza, and as Israeli policy advisers have argued that Somaliland could be used as a base for military operations against the Houthis in Yemen.
Despite evidence that Israel formally acknowledged Somaliland to further its own military and territorial interests, Israeli Deputy Permanent Representative Jonathan Miller arrived at the meeting Monday with the aim of explaining the "historical context" for the country's decision.
"Entire cities were destroyed," said Miller. "Civilians were deliberately targeted. These crimes are now widely recognized as a genocide... Israel's then-acting permanent representative, Yohanan Bein, submitted this letter to this very council warning of grave human rights violations in Somalia... That history provides essential context for the discussion surrounding Israel's recognition of Somaliland today."
Abukar Dahir Osman, Somalia's permanent representative to the UN, suggested Miller's comments only added insult to injury, considering Israel has been assaulting Gaza for more than two years—with attacks continuing despite a "ceasefire"—and has killed more than 71,000 Palestinians in what numerous human rights groups and experts have called a genocide.
"If we want to talk about genocide, it's Israel that's committed this to our own eyes every day," said Osman. "[Miller] represents a government that killed more than 70,000 people. Civilians, including children, women, elderly, doctors and other health workers, and patients in hospitals. Destroying infrastructures, deliberately starving people of Gaza."
“To come to this place, and lecture us [on] humanity and genocide and human rights and independence and democracy. And we know what you’re doing on a daily basis," said Osman. "It’s just an insult.”
Somalia’s representative at the United Nations had a history lesson to share with Israel’s envoy today. “To come to this place, and lecture us [on] humanity & genocide & human rights & independence & democracy. And we know what you’re doing on a daily basis. It’s just an insult.” pic.twitter.com/dcg3NnGKI4
— Drop Site (@DropSiteNews) December 30, 2025
Warning that the recognition of the breakaway region could destabilize Somalia as well as the broader Horn of Africa, the ambassador also expressed concern that Israel plans to “relocate the Palestinian population from Gaza to the northwestern region of Somalia."
"This utter disdain for law and morality must be stopped now,” said Osman.
Other representatives expressed similar outrage, with the UN envoy for the 22-member Arab League, Maged Abdelfattah Abdelaziz, saying the group would reject “any measures arising from this illegitimate recognition aimed at facilitating forced displacement of the Palestinian people, or exploiting northern Somali ports to establish military bases."
Muhammad Usman Iqbal Jadoon, deputy UN ambassador for Pakistan, said Israel's move following its previous comments on potentially deporting Palestinians to Somaliland was "deeply troubling."
Tammy Bruce, who was sworn in Monday as deputy US representative to the United Nations, was alone in backing Israel's recognition of Somaliland, though she noted that US policy on the region has not changed.
"Israel has the same right to conduct diplomatic relations as any other sovereign state," said Bruce. "Earlier this year, several countries, including members of this council, made the unilateral decision to recognize a nonexistent Palestinian state. And yet, no emergency meeting was called to express this council’s outrage."
More than 150 countries, including a number of major US allies, have recognized Palestinian statehood, with nearly two dozen governments announcing their recognition since Israel began its assault on Gaza in 2023.
Samuel Zbogar, Slovenia's UN ambassador, pushed back against Bruce's comparison.
"Slovenia recognized Palestine as an independent state," he said. "We did so in response to undeniable right of Palestinian people to self-determination. Palestine is not part of any state. It is an illegally occupied territory as declared by the [International Court of Justice], among others. Palestine is also an observer state in this organization."
"Somaliland, on the other hand, is part of a UN member state and recognizing it goes against Article 2, paragraph 4 of the UN Charter," he said.
On Tuesday, protests erupted in cities across Somalia, including the capital of Mogadishu, with demonstrators calling for national unity.
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Israel Becomes First Nation to Recognize Somaliland—But Still Rejects Palestine
One foreign policy analyst said that Israel views Somaliland as a "strategic location as a launch pad for strikes on Yemen and potentially a place to forcibly 'relocate' Palestinians to."
Dec 26, 2025
Israel became the first nation to recognize Somaliland as a sovereign state on Friday, a move that was met with criticism from international observers who questioned its continued unwillingness to recognize a Palestinian state.
Somaliland, a breakaway region in the north of Somalia that is home to more than 6 million people, declared independence in 1991, but until now, no United Nations member states have recognized its claim.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described his government's recognition of the territory as being “in the spirit of the Abraham Accords,” a deal brokered by US President Donald Trump for Israel to normalize relations with some of its Arab neighbors, which has itself been accused of disregarding the issue of Palestinian sovereignty.
Speaking over a video call with Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi, the president of Somaliland, Netanyahu said he was signing "Israel's official recognition of Somaliland and its right of self-determination," calling the friendship between the two nations "seminal and historic."
In a statement, Abdullahi said Israel's recognition "represents a milestone in Somaliland's long-standing pursuit of international legitimacy, reaffirming its historical, legal, and moral entitlement to statehood."
However, a report from the Guardian suggested that Israel's recognition of Somaliland has less to do with the self-determination of its people than with Israel's military interests. It cited a November report from a prominent Israeli think tank, which argued that Somaliland could be used as a base of military operations against Yemen's Houthis.
Somaliland, located in the horn of Africa just south of the Arabian Peninsula, already hosts an air base that the United Arab Emirates has used to conduct operations against the Yemeni militant group, which—until a "ceasefire" agreement was reached in October—launched regular attacks on Israel and its vessels in the Red Sea in what it said was an effort to pressure it to stop its genocidal military campaign in Gaza.
Egypt and Turkey condemned Israel's agreement with Somaliland, saying, "This initiative by Israel, which aligns with its expansionist policy and its efforts to do everything to prevent the recognition of a Palestinian state, constitutes overt interference in Somalia’s domestic affairs.”
Foreign ministers for the two nations joined those of Somalia and neighboring Djibouti on a call following the development, where they called for the continued unity of Somalia as an institution and condemned Israel's efforts "to displace the Palestinian people from their land."
Adil Haque, a professor at Rutgers Law School, pointed out on social media that, in August, Netanyahu met with Somaliland's leadership "offering recognition in exchange for helping Israel to illegally deport Palestinians from Gaza."
Somaliland was one of many nations reportedly approached by Israel to warehouse Palestinians exiled from the strip permanently—others included Indonesia, Uganda, South Sudan, and Libya.
Following reports at the time that Somalia was also in consideration, its president, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, responded that "the idea of removing Palestine from their own land and putting them into another, other people’s land—I don’t see that that’s a solution at all."
A senior Israeli official who spoke on condition of anonymity with Israel's Channel 12 reportedly agreed that Netanyahu's recognition of Somaliland undermines his repeated assertions that there will never be a Palestinian state. As the Times of Israel summarized: "The official... points out that while Israel is the first country to grant recognition to Somaliland, the rest of the world considers the breakaway region an integral part of Somalia."
Tariq Kenney-Shawa, a fellow at the Palestinian Policy Network and a producer at AJ+, said: "To state the obvious, Israel wouldn’t recognize anyone unless there was something in it for them. Israel doesn’t give a shit about Somaliland apart from its strategic location as a launch pad for strikes on Yemen and potentially a place to forcibly 'relocate' Palestinians to."
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