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Trump says Muslim lawmakers Omar, Tlaib should be removed from U.S. after speech clash

Published: 26 Feb. 2026, 12:03

U.S. President Donald Trump points after delivering his State of the Union address during a joint session of Congress in the House Chamber at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Feb. 24. [UPI/YONHAP]

U.S. President Donald Trump said Wednesday that two Muslim Democratic U.S. representatives, Ilhan Omar of Minnesota and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, should be "institutionalized" and sent back to "where they came from," a day after they had a heated exchange with him during his State of the Union address.

During Trump's speech on Tuesday, Tlaib, a Palestinian American, and Omar, a Somali American, criticized Trump as he touted his administration's hard-line immigration crackdown and its immigration enforcement actions.

Both Omar and Tlaib shouted "you're killing Americans" at Trump during his speech, with Omar also calling him a "liar."

In a Truth Social post on Wednesday, Trump said the two lawmakers "had the bulging, bloodshot eyes of crazy people, lunatics, mentally deranged and sick who, frankly, look like they should be institutionalized."

"We should send them back from where they came — as fast as possible," Trump added. Both Omar and Tlaib are U.S. citizens.

House of Representatives Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries cast Trump's rhetoric against Tlaib and Omar as "xenophobic" and "disgraceful." Tlaib said on X that Trump's comments showed "he is crashing out."

Rep. Ilhan Omar, center row left, and Rep. Rashida Tlaib, center row second from right, shout at U.S. President Donald Trump as he delivers his State of the Union address during a Joint Session of Congress at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Feb. 24. [AFP/YONHAP]

Muslim advocacy group Council on American-Islamic Relations also said Trump's comments were racist.

"It's racist and bigoted to say two Muslim U.S. lawmakers should be sent to the country they were born in or where their ancestors came from based on their criticism of the gunning down of Americans by ICE," CAIR National Deputy Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell said.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said last week that members of the media have "smeared" the president as a racist.

Trump's immigration enforcement actions were criticized following two separate January fatal shootings of U.S. citizens by federal agents in Minnesota. At least eight people have died in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention centers since the start of 2026, following at least 31 deaths last year.

During his Tuesday speech, Trump reiterated his accusation that Somali communities in the U.S. have engaged in fraud and claimed that "Somali pirates" had ransacked Minnesota. His administration had used fraud allegations to deploy armed federal immigration agents in Minnesota.

U.S. Representative Ilhan Omar, center, listens as U.S. President Donald Trump delivers the State of the Union address in the House Chamber of the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Feb. 24. [REUTERS/YONHAP]

Trump has cast his actions as aiming to tackle fraud and improve domestic security.

Rights groups say the crackdown has created a fearful environment and that Trump has used isolated fraud cases as an excuse to target immigrants. They also dismiss Trump's ability to tackle fraud, citing pardons from him to those who have faced fraud convictions in the past.

Trump also recently faced criticism after his social media account posted a video that contained a racist depiction of former President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle Obama.

Reuters