Trump says 2 Muslim lawmakers should be removed from US after speech clash

WASHINGTON - US President Donald Trump said on Feb 25 that two Muslim Democratic US representatives, Ms Ilhan Omar of Minnesota and Ms Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, should be “institutionalised” 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 Mr Trump’s speech on Feb 24, Ms Tlaib, a Palestinian American, and Ms Omar, a Somali American, criticised Mr Trump as he touted his administration’s hardline immigration crackdown and its immigration enforcement actions.

Both Ms Omar and Ms Tlaib shouted “you’re killing Americans” at Mr Trump during his speech, with Ms Omar also calling him a “liar.”

In a Truth Social post on Feb 25, Mr 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 institutionalised.”

“We should send them back from where they came – as fast as possible,” Mr Trump added.

Both Ms Omar and Ms Tlaib are US citizens.

House of Representatives Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries cast Mr Trump’s rhetoric against Ms Tlaib and Ms Omar as “xenophobic” and “disgraceful.”

Ms Tlaib said on X that Mr Trump’s comments showed “he is crashing out.”

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

“It’s racist and bigoted to say two Muslim US 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.

Mr Trump’s immigration enforcement actions were criticised following two separate January fatal shootings of US citizens by federal agents in Minnesota.

At least eight people have died in US Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention centres since the start of 2026, following at least 31 deaths in 2025.

During his Feb 24 speech, Mr Trump reiterated his accusation that Somali communities in the US 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.

Mr 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 Mr Trump has used isolated fraud cases as an excuse to target immigrants.

They also dismiss Mr Trump’s ability to tackle fraud, citing pardons from him to those who have faced fraud convictions in the past.

Mr 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