US President Donald Trump has launched a fresh verbal attack on Somalis, questioning their intelligence, mocking their living conditions and portraying Somalia as a country unfit to serve as a model for life in the United States.
Trump made the remarks on Monday, October 12, 2026, during a campaign rally at the Covelli Centre in Youngstown, Ohio, where he was seeking to rally support for Republican Senator Jon Husted ahead of the November midterm elections.
In a speech that lasted nearly 90 minutes, the president devoted considerable attention to immigration, singling out Somali and Haitian communities as he defended his administration’s restrictive immigration policies. His comments about Somalis were particularly harsh, with Trump describing them as “low IQ people” and claiming they “don’t have pants to wear”.
The remarks renewed attention on the Somali diaspora in the United States, particularly the sizeable community in Minnesota, which Trump has repeatedly targeted in his political speeches. He used Minnesota as an example of what he claimed could happen to Ohio if voters failed to support his immigration agenda.
“If you want to stop Ohio from being plundered, ransacked and destroyed like Minnesota’s being destroyed, we’re going to stop it,” Trump told the crowd, linking his criticism of immigration to his appeal for Republican electoral support.
He also invoked Springfield, Ohio, where Haitian immigrants became a major subject of national political controversy during the 2024 presidential campaign.
Trump’s attack went beyond criticism of immigration policy, extending to disparaging descriptions of Somalia and the people who come from the country.
During his speech, he turned to Democratic Representative Ilhan Omar, a Somali-born US citizen who represents a Minnesota congressional district and has been one of his most prominent political critics.
Trump questioned Omar’s right to speak about the US Constitution, arguing that she had come from a country he portrayed as lacking functioning public institutions.
“She comes in from a country without laws, without police, without military, without — all they do is shoot each other — and she comes into our country, and she says, ‘I have a constitutional right,’” Trump said.
He continued his criticism by questioning Somalia’s standing internationally.
“She’s got a constitutional right? She’s telling us about the Constitution, and she comes from one of the worst countries anywhere on the planet,” he added.
Trump then widened his attack to Somalis living in the United States, claiming that they behaved as though they were still in Somalia.
“They think they’re in Somalia, where they don’t have pants to wear,” he said, before repeating his insult about Somalis being “low IQ people”.
The comments drew a response from some people at the rally, who began chanting “Deport!” as Trump continued his remarks about Omar and Somali immigrants.