Trump cites Minnesota fraud cases to warn against migration from ‘failed’ societies

President Donald Trump took a shot at Somalia and claimed that the investigations Minnesota faces into alleged fraud schemes is a reminder that the West cannot allow mass migration from "failed" societies. 

Minnesota has encountered heightened scrutiny in recent months as the state faces investigations into multiple alleged fraud schemes plaguing the state’s social services system. 

The majority of those charged are part of Minnesota’s Somali population, and Trump unveiled plans in November 2025 to end the temporary protected status for Somali migrants in Minnesota that offers protections against deportation.

"The situation in Minnesota reminds us that the West cannot mass import foreign cultures, which have failed to ever build a successful society of their own," Trump said Wednesday at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. "I mean, we're taking people from Somalia, and Somalia is a failed — it's not a nation — got no government, got no police … got no nothing."

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Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent announced in December 2025 that his agency was launching an investigation evaluating whether Minnesota’s funds were potentially diverted to al-Shabab, a terrorist organization based in Somalia. 

Lawmakers also initiated probes into Minnesota's alleged "Feeding Our Future" $250 million fraud scheme that allegedly targeted a children's nutrition program the Department of Agriculture funded and that Minnesota oversaw during the COVID-19 pandemic.

At least 77 people have been charged in that scheme, which took advantage of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's decision to waive certain Federal Child Nutrition Program requirements.

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Likewise, another alleged fraud scheme in the state stems from the Housing Stability Services Program, which allegedly offered Medicaid coverage for housing stabilization services in an attempt to help those with disabilities, mental illnesses and substance-use disorders receive housing.

The Justice Department so far has charged less than a dozen people for allegedly defrauding the program that runs through Minnesota’s Medicaid service, but more charges are expected.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, a Democrat, has claimed that he believes that reports indicating the fraud could total over $9 billion are exaggerated and "sensationalized," but he's also promised to address the issue. 

"I am accountable for this, and more importantly, I am the one that will fix it," Walz told reporters in December 2025.