Donald Trump penned an angry message to Minnesota lawmakers, accusing them of allowing fraud in the state and threatening Representative Ilhan Omar with jail time.
Minnesota has come under intense scrutiny from the Trump administration, with the federal government claiming that local officials turned a blind eye to the misuse of federal funds.
Aimee Bock, 44, was found guilty on several fraud, bribery, and conspiracy charges for misusing funds intended for the nonprofit Feeding Our Future.
The case spotlighted welfare programs in the state, with prosecutors now alleging that half of the $18 billion in federal funds used to support Minnesota since 2018 may have been stolen.
Now, the president is claiming that fraud in the state is ‘far greater’ than $19 billion, writing in a post on Truth Social: ‘The Biden Administration knew this FRAUD was happening, and did absolutely nothing about it.
‘“Scammer” Illhan Omar and her absolutely terrible friends from Somalia should all be in jail right now or, far worse, send them back to Somalia,’ the continued.
‘“Governor” Waltz is either the most CORRUPT government official in history, or the most INCOMPETENT. Even a very low IQ person, of which there are many, should have known what was going on in Minnesota!!!’
Minnesota lawmakers have been at odds with the Trump administration, as the president continues to hurl accusations of fraud, attacks against the state’s Somali community, and heightened raids from Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
President Donald Trump, pictured above in the Oval Office on Friday, penned a scathing message to Minnesota lawmakers on Truth Social
Trump threatened Democratic Representative Ilhan Omar, pictured above on Tuesday, with jail time or a fate ‘far worse’ in a social media rant on Saturday morning
Trump’s rant also issued a bizarre attack against Governor Tim Walz, pictured above with his wife Gwen last August. Trump called Walz the ‘most corrupt government official in history’ on Saturday morning
The saga began when Assistant US Attorney Joe Thompson announced in December that Minnesota-based companies and nonprofits were using federal funds for personal gain.
‘The magnitude cannot be overstated,’ Thompson said during a news conference in Minneapolis.
‘What we see in Minnesota is not a handful of bad actors committing crimes. It’s staggering, industrial-scale fraud.’
Governor Tim Walz has long been a subject of Trump’s wrath, with the president using the allegations to claim that Minnesota is a ‘hub of fraudulent money laundering activity.’
Walz has condemned the fraud cases in his state and initiated a third-party audit of 14 high-risk Medicaid programs.
The Feeding Our Future scandal dates back to 2022, when 47 people were accused of funneling $250 million in federal funds for their own use.
Bock was accused of overseeing the fraud scheme along with dozens of her associates and co-defendants, many of whom were of Somali descent.
Trump used the case to justify several racist attacks against the Somali community, accusing them of ‘ripping off’ Minnesota, and referring to them as ‘garbage.’
Representative Ilhan Omar, pictured above with her husband, Tim Mynett in 2023, has been a frequent target of Trump’s verbal attacks
Trump, pictured above at the White House on Friday, has previously said that Somalis, who make up a significant portion of Minnesota’s population, are ‘garbage’ and has ordered them out of the country
Aimee Bock, pictured above in 2022, pleaded guilty to several fraud and conspiracy charges for falsely applying for federal funds through the nonprofit, Feeding Our Future
He told reporters in December that he ‘didn’t want’ Somalians in the state and has called them ‘garbage.’
Earlier this month, the Trump administration said Somalis living in the US on a Temporary Protective Status (TPS) would have to leave the country by March 17.
TPS is granted to immigrants from countries that have been destabilized, impoverished, or face a humanitarian crisis. Former President Joe Biden renewed TPS for Somalis in 2022.
Civilians in Somalia are subject to abuses carried out by the Islamist armed group Al-Shabab. The country has also faced a devastating food crisis.
Sources previously told Fox News that there are roughly 2,500 Somalis living in the US under TPS. Over half of them still have pending applications.
‘They came in through Biden’s open borders, and we’re getting them out of our country,’ Trump said of the decision to revoke TPS for Somalis.
‘That’s why our crime numbers are so good. We have record-low crime numbers.’
