President Trump said Rep. Ilhan Omar could face jail or deportation and called her a disgrace to the country, sharpening pressure in a federal citizenship fraud probe.
Standing in the Oval Office during an announcement on a fraud incentive program, President Donald Trump answered a direct question about Minnesota Democrat Rep. Ilhan Omar and whether a problem with her age could lead to her removal from the country. He did not stop at deportation.
Fox News reported that Trump told FOX Business correspondent Edward Lawrence she could also end up behind bars, then labeled the Somali-born congresswoman a disgrace who hates the United States. The exchange landed as federal investigators continue looking into allegations that she misrepresented her birth year on immigration paperwork.
Trump made clear he was offering his view, not a formal charging decision. He still left little doubt about where he stands.
Lawrence asked whether an age problem could put Omar on a path out of the country. Trump answered without hedging.
Trump said:
"Well, she could be. She could also go to jail. You know, they keep talking about deportation. No, she could go to jail."
He added that the assessment was “just my opinion,” then called the congresswoman “a very dishonest person” who “hates our country.” He went further on her posture toward the United States after arriving from Somalia.
Trump said:
"Then she comes over here, and she says that she wants to tell us how to run America. She wants to tell us how to run the United States of America."
He closed the critique with a blunt verdict: “She’s a disgrace to our country.” He also said he hoped investigators would treat her fairly. Trump did not name a specific criminal charge or roll out new evidence in the room.
On Dec. 12 he had already told reporters that Omar is “very bad for our country.” Tuesday’s remarks raised the stakes from criticism to the possibility of prison time.
The comments sit on top of an active federal investigation into Omar’s citizenship status. Investigators are examining whether she misstated her birth year on immigration papers and whether she properly qualified for citizenship through her father.
The dispute turns on 2000, the year her father became a U.S. citizen. If she was still a minor then, she could have derived citizenship through him. If she was already 18, she would have needed to apply on her own. That timeline is the core of the fraud allegations.
On Oct. 12, federal agents searched Omar’s Washington, D.C., home and seized her cellphone along with other possessions. Omar has denied wrongdoing. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and other Democrats have denounced the probe as political persecution aimed at a prominent Trump critic ahead of the midterm elections.
Readers following the case have already seen how far agents have gone, including work that tied Omar’s sister into questioning after the HSI raid on the congresswoman’s residence.
Separate coverage has detailed how agents sought DNA evidence from trash during the same immigration fraud investigation. Those steps show a methodical inquiry, not a drive-by press hit.
White House border czar Tom Homan addressed the same file days earlier. Appearing Saturday on “The Big Weekend Show,” he said lying during the naturalization process can trigger denaturalization, and that the government has used that tool before.
Homan said:
"Of course, if you lie during the naturalization process, there is a process to denaturalize somebody. We’ve done it before. And certainly, if the evidence points that way, that could happen."
He refused to get ahead of the bureau or Homeland Security Investigations. He still offered a clear signal on the strength of the file.
Homan said:
"I’m not going to get ahead of the bureau or HSI, but I’ve been told they have a strong case, and we’ll let the evidence lead where it leads."
That track matches earlier reporting in which the border czar outlined possible loss of citizenship and deportation if fraud is proven. Omar would be held to the same standards as anyone else.
Other voices on Capitol Hill have described the probe in similar terms after multi-warrant searches, including assessments that labeled the immigration case a strong one once the warrants were executed.
Former President Barack Obama later criticized Homan over the denaturalization talk, a clash already covered when Obama slammed the border czar’s remarks on Omar’s status. The political fight is loud. The investigative facts still run through paperwork, a home search, and seized devices.
Trump framed his Oval Office answer as opinion and said he wants fair treatment. That is the right standard. Citizenship is not a costume. Naturalization rests on truthful disclosures. If someone lied about age to lock in status through a parent, the law already provides a path to unwind it and, where crimes are proven, to prosecute.
Democrats call the probe persecution because Omar is a high-profile critic. Voters can weigh that claim against the Oct. 12 search, the seized phone, Homan’s “strong case” comment, and the unresolved 2000 citizenship timeline. Fox News Digital reached out to Omar’s office for comment. No charges or formal docket details were laid out in the Tuesday exchange.
A member of Congress who lectures Americans on how to run the country should be able to clear a basic honesty check on how she became a citizen in the first place. If the evidence holds, jail or deportation would not be a political stunt. It would be the law catching up.
Accountability does not stop at the water’s edge of party politics, and a passport built on false paperwork is not a shield.
