Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota on Thursday called President Trump’s recent tirades against Somalis in the state “vile,” warning that xenophobic rhetoric could lead to bloodshed.
“This creates danger,” Mr. Walz, a Democrat, told reporters during a news conference. “We know how these things go, they start with taunts, they turn to violence.”
The governor made the remarks as his administration announced a new fiscal analysis suggesting that Minnesota will grapple with a nearly $3 billion state budget deficit in the 2028-2029 cycle. That forecast raised new questions about a fraud scandal targeting state social services programs.
In recent days, Mr. Trump has lashed out at Somali Americans, referring to them as “garbage” and saying, “we don’t want them in our country.” The president’s outburst followed news reports about the fraud scandal in Minnesota targeting safety net programs designed to feed vulnerable children, help people at risk of homelessness and provide therapy to children with autism. The vast majority of the 86 people federal prosecutors have charged in the fraud schemes are of Somali ancestry. Most are American citizens. So far, 59 people have been convicted in the cases.
Mr. Walz and budget experts in his administration said on Thursday that they had no way of determining precisely how hundreds of millions of dollars stolen in the fraud schemes had affected the projected budget shortfall. But the governor said an audit of 14 government programs would likely give state officials a clearer sense of the scope of the problem.
“We’ve acknowledged that this is serious, it needs to stop, it’s stopping, people are continuing to go to prison,” said Mr. Walz, who is running for a third term as governor next year.
Minnesota Republicans, who have not won a statewide race since 2006, have seized on the issue as they aim to win the governor’s office in 2026. But some struggled on Thursday to keep attention on the fraud scandal as they were asked about the president’s insults against tens of thousands of Somalis who live in Minnesota.
“If this had been taken care of early on, we wouldn’t be having this conversation at this time,” said Lisa Demuth, the speaker of the Minnesota House, who is among the Republicans running for governor.
Asked whether she agreed with the president’s assertion that Minnesota would be better off without Somalis, Ms. Demuth told reporters: “There is not an entire community that is bad, and there is not an entire community that is good.”
Minnesotans of Somali descent have said President Trump’s comments have left them feeling scared and hurt. The Trump administration this week deployed about 100 federal agents from to Minnesota with a mandate to detain Somalis who are subject to deportation.
On Thursday afternoon, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said that federal agents had detained “some of the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens” during the operation in Minnesota, dubbed Operation Metro Surge, since Monday. The ICE statement included the names and photos of five men from Somalia, six from Mexico and one from El Salvador.
While the surge of agents created consternation among immigrants in Minnesota, local officials and immigration advocacy groups said that relatively few people appear to have been detained as of Thursday.
That’s likely in part because the vast majority of Somalis in the state are American citizens and permanent residents. Additionally, this week has been severely cold in Minnesota, making the work of immigration agents particularly challenging.
“It appears very little is being done,” Mr. Walz said about the influx of agents. “They bring these people in from Texas or somewhere like that, and I’m sure they’re too cold to get out of their cars and harass people.”
Ernesto Londoño is a Times reporter based in Minnesota, covering news in the Midwest and drug use and counternarcotics policy.
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