Trump calls Ilhan Omar “totally crooked” in first comments on home search

• Trump said Monday that Omar’s treatment is “up to the DOJ” and that he has “nothing to do with it.”
• Federal agents searched her Washington-area home early Monday under a judicially authorized warrant.
• Omar has not been charged and has denied wrongdoing. The search came three weeks before the midterms.

 US President Donald Trump said on Monday he had no role in the federal search of Representative Ilhan Omar’s home, while calling the Minnesota Democrat “totally crooked” and “a terrible person.”

“I understand they’re looking at her very carefully. I’ve always found her to be totally crooked, personally, but that has nothing to do with me,” Trump told reporters. “I think she’s a terrible person, but that’s really up to the DOJ. I have nothing to do with it.”

He spoke before leaving the White House for Ohio, in his first remarks since the search. 

Homeland Security Investigations officers executed the warrant early Monday. The Justice Department said it was judicially authorized and secured by the department. A DOJ spokesperson called it part of an ongoing federal criminal investigation, and authorities have not said what prompted it. 

Sources familiar with the probe say it concerns immigration paperwork from Omar’s childhood, filled out by her late father when the family came to the United States from Somalia. No charges have been filed, and neither the DOJ nor HSI has said what evidence agents sought or removed. Omar has previously denied any wrongdoing. 

Omar called the search an “attempt to target political enemies and weaponize federal law enforcement.” She said Trump has targeted her with baseless lies and smear campaigns for ten years. House Democratic leaders called the search deeply disturbing and said it raises questions about the weaponization of the federal government against Trump’s adversaries. Republican Representative Tom Emmer wrote on X that nobody is above the law.

The search took place three weeks before the November midterms, in which Omar is on the ballot for reelection. Border czar Tom Homan told Fox News last month that Omar was the subject of an ongoing criminal investigation but gave no details.

Ilhan Omar’s immigration 

Omar arrived in the United States from Somalia in 1995 at age 12 and has been a citizen since 2000. 

Vice President JD Vance said, without offering evidence, that Omar had committed immigration fraud. Her office dismissed the claim in March as fabricated and defamatory. In February, House Oversight Chairman James Comer, a Republican, requested records from companies tied to Omar’s husband. There was no evidence of wrongdoing by Omar, and her spokesperson called the letter a political stunt. 

Trump’s prior attacks on Omar

Trump has criticized Omar for years. In December he called her “garbage” at an event where supporters chanted “send her back.” Earlier this year he wrote that she was “low IQ” and “mentally deranged,” and said she and Representative Rashida Tlaib should be sent back “as fast as possible.” He has also repeated the claim that Omar married her brother, which she called “absolutely false and ridiculous” in a 2016 statement. More recently he wrote that Omar and her friends should be in jail or sent back to Somalia.

.@POTUS on Ilhan Omar: "I understand they're looking at her very carefully. I've always found her to be totally crooked, personally, but that has nothing to do with me... I think she's a terrible person, but that's really up to the DOJ — I have nothing to do with it." https://t.co/v7rLg2oBD1

— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) October 12, 2026