Somali Americans have responded to Donald Trump’s latest wave of xenophobic attacks in an unexpected and clever way — with humor. As “rage bait” becomes 2025’s word of the year, many in the Somali diaspora are using satire, memes, AI-generated folklore, and parody biblical-style quotes to push back against language meant to provoke fear or anger. Their creativity has turned Trump’s harsh rhetoric into a spotlight showing how exaggerated and fragile MAGA nationalism can be.
The conflict rose sharply after Trump launched one of his most aggressive attacks yet on Somali immigrants, focusing especially on the large Somali community in Minnesota. Speaking from the Oval Office, he claimed Somalia was “not even a nation,” accused Somali immigrants of contributing “nothing,” and went as far as to call them “garbage.” He suggested they had “destroyed Minnesota” and taken “billions of dollars” from the United States. His comments followed a recent news report about a major fraud case involving a group of individuals in Minnesota who misused COVID-19 relief funds. Although dozens of those charged in the case are of Somali descent, federal prosecutors treated it — correctly — as a criminal scheme by specific people, not an entire community.
But Trump used the scandal to paint all Somali Americans as criminals. Instead of focusing on the individuals who committed the fraud, his administration turned the case into a moral attack on the whole Somali population in Minnesota. Soon after, federal authorities began targeted immigration enforcement in Minneapolis and St. Paul, even though 95% of the more than 84,000 Somali Minnesotans are U.S. citizens, and more than half were born in the United States. This move raised concerns that the administration’s actions were driven more by political hostility than genuine security needs.
The issue quickly became a major topic on Sunday political talk shows. On CNN, Dana Bash questioned border official Tom Homan about whether Trump’s comments were influencing the enforcement actions. Homan avoided addressing Trump’s language but defended the administration’s decisions. On CBS, Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, who is herself Somali American and had been specifically labeled “garbage” by Trump, condemned the remarks as “disgusting.” She warned that this kind of dehumanizing language is dangerous because it can inspire violence from people who take the president’s words literally. Omar has previously spoken about spikes in threats against her family and staff each time she becomes a target of Trump’s attacks.
Omar also described Trump’s fixation on Somali Americans — and on her personally — as “unhealthy and creepy.” She criticized White House adviser Stephen Miller, comparing his rhetoric to language historically used to target Jews in Nazi Germany. Miller responded on X by claiming the Somali refugee program was based on “a lie,” while his wife posted that Omar’s TV appearances increased public support for deporting all Somalis. Even the House Judiciary Committee’s official account entered the debate, attempting to frame Omar’s criticism of Miller as antisemitic because of his Jewish background.
Despite the harshness of the political attacks, Somali Americans online continue to respond with creativity instead of fear. Through humor, satire, and imaginative storytelling, they are reclaiming the narrative and exposing the absurdity behind attempts to paint an entire community as a threat. Their response shows how marginalized groups can turn digital culture into a tool of resilience, using laughter to dismantle hate.
