U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during an event to sign an executive order creating an anti‑fraud task force headed by U.S. Vice President JD Vance in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., March 16, 2026. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst
President Donald Trump on Monday asked his new federal fraud task force to investigate a Democratic lawmaker.
Speaking in the Oval Office, Trump told Vice President JD Vance and Andrew Ferguson, chairman of the Federal Trade Commission, to ensure the new fraud task force they are leading will investigate Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN). Republicans have routinely accused Omar of marrying her brother as a way of skirting U.S. immigration law. Omar has denied the accusation, and Snopes has said the rumor "lacks evidence."
"Somalia is a third-world, maybe a fourth-world nation," Trump said. "One of the worst. One of the most dangerous. They don't have councils. They don't have a government. They don't have police. They shoot each other all over the place."
Trump also linked the alleged social services fraud connected to the Somali community in Minneapolis, Minnesota, to Omar, who is a Somali-American.
"They come here, and they steal $19 billion. It's crazy," Trump said. "And Ilhan Omar, I hope this is part of it, but she married her brother, supposedly. I mean, there is a lot of documentation. That means she's here illegally, and she's a Congresswoman. I hope you're going to be looking at that or somebody is because she's one of the ring leaders here. She's bad news."
Trump first announced plans to establish a new federal fraud task force during his State of the Union address in February. On Monday, he signed an executive order establishing the task force and appointing Vance as its leader.
The task force will primarily operate in blue states like California, Illinois, New York, Maine, and Colorado, according to the executive order. However, Trump said fraud investigators will travel to red states, too, even though he noted that "most of the issues are in blue states."