US President Donald Trump stated that Democratic congresswomen Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib should be interned and sent back to their countries of origin. The remark followed their interruptions during his State of the Union address. Both are American citizens of Muslim origin.
On February 25, 2026, US President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social criticizing Democratic congresswomen Ilhan Omar from Minnesota and Rashida Tlaib from Michigan after they interrupted his State of the Union address the previous day. Both of Muslim origin — Omar Somali and Tlaib Palestinian —, they shouted 'you're killing Americans' and Omar called him a 'liar' in protest against Trump administration immigration policies.
Trump described the congresswomen as having 'eyes bulging and red like crazy people, lunatics, mentally disturbed and sick'. He added: 'Frankly, they look like they should be interned. We should send them back to their countries of origin — as soon as possible'.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries called the remarks 'xenophobic' and 'shameful'. Tlaib posted on X that the statements show Trump 'is in crisis'. The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) criticized through its national deputy director, Edward Ahmed Mitchell: 'It is racist and intolerant to say that two American Muslim parliamentarians should be sent to the country where they were born or from where their ancestors came, based on their criticism of American deaths by ICE'.
During the speech, Trump reiterated accusations of fraud in Somali communities in the US and mentioned 'Somali pirates' looting Minnesota, justifying the deployment of armed ICE agents to the state. Human rights groups state this creates an atmosphere of fear and uses isolated cases to persecute immigrants, questioning Trump's credibility due to past pardons for similar crimes. The White House did not comment immediately.
