Former US President Donald Trump has ignited a fresh political firestorm by freezing federal childcare payments to the state of Minnesota and launching a racially charged attack on its Democratic governor, Tim Walz, and Somali American congresswoman Ilhan Omar.
Funding Freeze and Allegations of Fraud
The controversy erupted after the Trump administration, through Deputy Secretary of Health and Human Services Jim O'Neill, announced the suspension of childcare funding to Minnesota late on Tuesday. The move was justified by citing increased allegations of fraud within the state's social services programmes.
O'Neill stated in a video that the action was a response to "blatant fraud that appears to be rampant in Minnesota and across the country", adding, "We have turned off the money spigot and we are finding the fraud."
The dispute partly centres on claims of fraud at Somali American childcare centres in Minneapolis, highlighted in viral videos posted by YouTuber Nick Shirley. However, critics note these videos presented known fraud schemes as new revelations.
Trump's Inflammatory Social Media Tirade
Hours after Governor Walz criticised the funding freeze, Trump escalated the conflict with a series of posts on his Truth Social platform. He made unfounded, racist allegations, claiming "Much of the Minnesota Fraud, up to 90%, is caused by people that came into our Country, illegally, from Somalia."
He specifically targeted Representative Ilhan Omar, repeating a long-debunked smear about her personal life and labelling her "an ungrateful loser" and "one of the many scammers." In a further inflammatory remark, he stated, "Lowlifes like this can only be a liability to our Country’s greatness. Send them back from where they came."
Trump also turned his ire on Governor Walz, calling him a "Crooked Governor" and attempting to link Minnesota's issues with California, alleging both states were tied for first in fraud.
Political Backlash and the Scale of the Fraud
Governor Walz condemned the funding freeze as a political manoeuvre, writing on X that Trump is "using an issue he doesn’t give a damn about as an excuse to hurt working Minnesotans." He argued it was part of a "long game" to politicise the issue and defund vital programmes.
The justice department claims to have charged 98 people in connection with the fraud case since 2022, most of whom are Somali Americans. While federal officials have suggested "half or more" of the $18bn billed to certain services since 2018 could be fraudulent, court records examined by the Minnesota Star Tribune indicate the alleged fraud is closer to $218m.
Some estimates have placed the fraud as high as $9bn, though this remains a fraction of the estimated $400bn in Covid relief funds believed to have been misspent nationwide.
The issue has become a potent political tool for Trump and allies like JD Vance, who praised the payment suspension as one of the "most important steps we can take to end the fraud in Minnesota."
Representative Omar has consistently urged against blaming an entire community and denounced recent ICE raids in Minneapolis as "state-sanctioned racial profiling." She affirmed the resilience of the Somali Minnesotan community, stating, "We don’t cower to bullies."
