President Donald Trump launched a vitriolic attack on two Muslim Democratic congresswomen following a tense confrontation during his State of the Union address, saying they should be "institutionalized" and sent back to "where they came from" despite both being American citizens. The remarks targeting Minnesota Representative Ilhan Omar and Michigan Representative Rashida Tlaib have drawn widespread condemnation from Democratic leaders and Muslim advocacy groups, who characterize them as racist and xenophobic.
During his Tuesday night address to a joint session of Congress, Trump touted his administration's hardline immigration enforcement policies, including the deployment of armed federal agents to Minnesota following fraud allegations targeting the state's Somali community. When the president claimed that "members of the Somali community have pillaged an estimated $19 billion dollars from the American taxpayer," Omar shouted from the chamber, "That's a lie! You're a liar!". As Trump continued discussing immigration enforcement, both Omar and Tlaib repeatedly called out, "You're killing Americans!" a reference to the recent fatal shootings of two U.S. citizens, Renee Good and Alex Pretti, by federal immigration agents in Minneapolis. The president stared in their direction with a "disgusted look" as Republicans applauded his immigration policies.
The following day, Trump took to his Truth Social platform with an extended attack on the two lawmakers. He wrote that Omar and Tlaib "had the bulging, bloodshot eyes of crazy people, LUNATICS, mentally deranged and sick who, frankly, look like they should be institutionalized". He added, "We should send them back from where they came, as fast as possible". Both Omar, who was born in Somalia and became a naturalized U.S. citizen, and Tlaib, who was born in Detroit to Palestinian immigrant parents, are American citizens serving in the United States Congress.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries condemned Trump's language as "xenophobic" and "disgraceful". Tlaib responded on X, stating that Trump's comments showed "he is crashing out". The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) issued a strong rebuke, with National Deputy Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell saying, "It's racist and bigoted to say two Muslim U.S. lawmakers should be sent to the country they were born in or where their ancestors came from based on their criticism of the gunning down of Americans by ICE". The White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment, though press secretary Karoline Leavitt had said the previous week that media members had "smeared" the president as a racist.
The controversy extended beyond the verbal confrontation when Aliya Rahman, a guest of Omar's who uses a cane to walk, was arrested and charged with unlawful conduct for standing silently in the House gallery during the speech. Rahman, a U.S. citizen who was dragged from her car and detained by immigration officers in Minnesota last month, told Democracy Now she was handled "so physically" by officers despite warning them about her injured shoulders. Capitol Police stated that Rahman was arrested for "demonstrating" after refusing orders to sit down, though Rahman maintained she was "not speaking or gesturing, holding any signs or wearing protest messages".
Trump's State of the Union address and subsequent comments come amid intense scrutiny of his administration's immigration enforcement actions. Two U.S. citizens were killed by federal agents in separate January incidents in Minnesota, and at least eight people have died in Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention centers since the start of 2026, following at least 31 deaths last year. Rights groups say the crackdown has created a fearful environment and that Trump has used isolated fraud cases as an excuse to target immigrants. The $19 billion fraud figure Trump cited refers to total federal funding allocated to Minnesota state programs since 2018, not confirmed fraudulent losses, and while some individuals of Somali descent have been convicted in fraud schemes, they represent a small fraction of the state's approximately 108,000 Somali residents, most of whom arrived as refugees fleeing civil war and are now U.S. citizens. The president also recently faced criticism after his social media account posted a video containing racist depictions of former President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle Obama.