Trump Attacks Somalis as Only ‘Good at Pirating Ships’
President Donald Trump made dehumanizing remarks about Somalia and Somali people during a White House press briefing on Tuesday, January 20, 2026, declaring that Somalis are “good at” only “pirating ships.” Trump appeared in the briefing room to mark his first year back in office and highlighted ICE arrests of undocumented immigrants before pivoting to attacks on the East African nation and its diaspora in the United States.
Trump described Somalia as “a terrible, terrible place” and “probably the worst country” in the world, using explicit language to disparage its governance and institutions. He stated: “They don’t have government, they don’t have anything…They don’t have police, they don’t have military, they don’t have anything. They just have people running around killing each other and trying to pirate ships.” Trump also announced his administration had “halted” all refugee applications from Somalia, framing the policy as a victory.
The president directly attacked Representative Ilhan Omar (D-MN), a Somali American who immigrated to the United States in the 1990s, calling her country “backward” and describing her as an anti-Semite who “complains” about America. Trump stated he “can’t stand” Omar and has intensified criticism of her, Minnesota, and Somali Americans over recent weeks. His remarks follow similar inflammatory language at a Pennsylvania rally targeting Omar and her Somali heritage.
Trump’s January rhetoric mirrors December 2025 statements in which he declared he did not want Somali immigrants in the United States, claiming they are “ripping off” the country and “contribute nothing.” These comments were amplified following media reports of a fraud scheme in Minnesota allegedly involving members of the Somali community, which Trump has used to justify broad xenophobic generalizations about an entire ethnic group.
Trump’s characterizations contradict the documented reality that Somalia faces severe state fragility and corruption, issues documented by international watchdog organizations like Transparency International, but do not reflect the agency, contributions, or diversity of millions of Somali citizens and diaspora members. His rhetoric functions to dehumanize an ethnic and religious minority, building political support through racial stereotyping while implementing restrictive immigration policies.