During a White House Cabinet meeting, President Trump made several disparaging remarks about Minnesota’s Somali community. He described Somalia as “a crooked country, disgusting country, one of the worst countries in the world,” and claimed that Somali immigrants have “low IQs” and “rob us blind.”
Aaron Rupar uploaded the video to X, where it quickly went viral and drew significant engagement from both the president’s supporters and critics. The remarks fit into a broader pattern of Trump targeting Minnesota’s Somali community, including calling them “garbage” during a Cabinet meeting, describing Minnesota as “a hellhole,” and calling for Somalis to return to their home country.
It is important to note that numerous fact-checkers and researchers have disputed Trump’s claims about Somali immigrants. According to PolitiFact, most Somali Americans in Minnesota are U.S. citizens, and Trump’s claim that 92% of Minnesota Somalis are unemployed has been debunked.
Online Reactions Spark Debate Over Trump’s Comments About Minnesota’s Somali Community
Online reactions were sharply critical, with the clip drawing widespread condemnation. Many users expressed disbelief at the language used by a sitting president. And many think it’s at all appropriate for someone in such a high-ranking position—and, in general, no one should express themselves that way.
“BLATANT racism and he is the President of the United States.”
“If people you consider low IQ can rob you, then who is really low IQ?”
“This is the President of the United States using this racist language — how he gets away with it time after time is absolutely wild.”
Not all responses were critical, however. Some commenters agreed with the president’s characterization of Somali immigrants.
“A lot of them really should not be unsupervised in the west.”
Overall, however, the response reflected widespread shock at both the substance of the remarks and the formal setting in which they were made.
The video resonated because it marked the latest example in a growing pattern of presidential rhetoric targeting a specific ethnic community. This time, the remarks were not made at a campaign rally, but on camera during a formal White House Cabinet meeting in front of the nation’s top government officials.
Over the past four months, the White House has repeatedly singled out Minnesota’s Somali community by name. According to U.S. Census data, roughly 80,000 Somali residents live in Minnesota, the vast majority of whom are U.S. citizens.
