Ilhan Omar blasts Trump’s ‘garbage’ remark on Somali immigrants: 'Hope he gets the help he needs'

WASHINGTON, DC: On December 3, 2025, Congresswoman Ilhan Omar issued a strong condemnation of President Trump after he used the term “garbage” to refer to her and other Somali immigrants in the United States.

The remarks came during a White House cabinet meeting and triggered widespread backlash. Omar called Trump’s personal attacks on her “creepy.”

Donald Trump’s comments and anti‑immigrant rhetoric

During the meeting, Trump launched a harsh tirade against Somali immigrants, including Omar, describing them as “garbage” and demanding that they leave the country.

He said, “We’re going to go the wrong way if we keep taking in garbage into our country. Ilhan Omar is garbage. She’s garbage. Her friends are garbage.”

He went on to assert that many Somali immigrants “do nothing but complain,” adding that “these aren’t people that work” and that they “come from a country that’s no good for a reason.”

Trump also said he did not know Omar personally but accused her of relentlessly complaining about the United States for years, labelling her “incompetent” and “a real terrible person.”

At another point, he said Somalia “stinks, and we don’t want them in our country. I can say that about other countries too.”

Reinforcing his anti-immigrant stance, he said, “We don’t want them in our country. Let them go back to where they came from and fix it.”

His remarks came soon after a shooting involving an immigrant from Afghanistan that resulted in the death of one National Guard troop and severely injuring another, which Trump cited as a reason to intensify immigration restrictions from “third‑world” countries, including Somalia. 

Ilhan Omar’s response to Donald Trump's remarks

In response, Omar wrote on social media, “His obsession with me is creepy. I hope he gets the help he desperately needs.”

Omar also addressed questions about allegations that she married her brother for citizenship, stating, “I am not going anywhere; I’ll be around longer than Trump.” She further described him as “deranged.”

Omar, who fled Somalia’s civil war as a child and later became the first Somali American elected to the United States Congress, represents a district in Minnesota with one of the largest Somali diaspora communities in the country. 

Although members of the Somali‑American community have faced higher rates of poverty and unemployment common among refugee groups a 2021 report from the 'Minnesota Chamber of Commerce' documented improvements over time.

These improvements included rising workforce participation, increasing median household income, and gains in educational attainment.

The Somali community in the US has long been a target of Trump’s immigration policies.

During his first term, Somalia was included in a restrictive travel and immigration ban targeting several predominantly Muslim countries.