CHICAGO: “Somali fraud” in Minnesota has stolen at least $19 billion in state and federal funds, US President Donald Trump said during his State of the Union address on Tuesday night.

He announced that Vice President J.D. Vance will head the “war on fraud,” beginning with Minnesota. 

Trump was expanding on an announcement he made several months ago creating a National Fraud Enforcement division in the Justice Department. 

The new division will target allegations of “massive and complex fraud” involving misused federal funds in state programs in Minnesota and elsewhere, he said.

“But when it comes to the corruption that’s plundering America … there’s been no more stunning example than in Minnesota, where members of the Somali community have pillaged an estimated $19 billion from the American taxpayer,” he added.

“We have all the information, and in actuality the number is much higher than that, and California, Massachusetts, Maine and many other states are even worse.”

Trump said: “This is the kind of corruption that shreds the fabric of a nation, and we’re working on it like you wouldn’t believe.”

Regarding the “war on fraud,” he said Vance will “get it done,” adding: “Find enough of that fraud (and) we’ll actually have a balanced budget overnight. (The budget deficit) will go very quickly. That’s the kind of money you’re talking about.”

He said: “The Somali pirates who ransacked Minnesota remind us that there are large parts of the world where corruption and lawlessness are the norm, not the exception.

“Importing these cultures through unrestricted immigration and open borders brings those problems right here to the USA, and it’s the American people who pay the price in higher medical bills, car insurance, rent, taxes, and perhaps most importantly, crime.”

Trump vowed: “We’ll take care of this problem … We aren’t playing games.”

Under his announcement, the new division will report directly to the White House through Vance, rather than through traditional Justice Department channels.

While starting in Minnesota, Trump emphasized that the anti-fraud initiative will expand nationwide, including California, Washington State and Ohio.

More than 260,000 Somalis living in the US, nearly 100,000 of them in Minnesota. About 50,000 live in the 5th Congressional District, represented by Somali-American Congresswoman Ilhan Omar.

In 2024, then-President Joe Biden ordered investigations into allegations of Somali fraud, mainly involving the misuse of COVID-19 funding intended to help businesses harmed by the pandemic. Trump expanded the investigations immediately after taking office in January 2025.

Somalis in Minnesota have been implicated in the theft of billions of dollars in state and federal funds intended to support childcare, food programs for families and seniors, and healthcare and mental health programs. Losses are estimated to range between $1 billion and $9 billion.

Of 98 people charged in connection with fraud involving one program, food for the poor in Minnesota, 85 were identified as Somali Americans.

Allegations of fraud also include state and federal money used for personal reasons, such as the purchase of vehicles, vacations, clothes and personal expenses, rather than to provide childcare or food services for seniors.

Other accusations focus on fraud by some Somali-run childcare centers that had no children, or far fewer children than what was claimed in government funding applications.