In a wave of anti-Somali and anti-immigrant rhetoric, US President Donald Trump, yesterday, Thursday, described Americans of Somali origin as a threat to the state of Minnesota, hours after he described Muslim Senate candidate Abdul Sayed as an extremist radical, according to Reuters.
Trump wrote on his platform, “Truth Social,”: “The once great state of Minnesota is under the control of Somali immigrants.” There is violence, murders and chaos all over the state. “Minnesotans should fight this.”
Trump urged authorities in Minnesota to request federal intervention.
Civil rights advocates criticize the Republican president's rhetoric toward minorities and immigrants, including his description of Somalis in the past as "trash."
Trump had repeatedly referred before that to a scandal that occurred in Minnesota dating back to 2020, in which dozens of people were accused of embezzling millions of dollars from a federally funded state child nutrition program. A number of the defendants in that case were Somali Americans.
In May, Amy Book, a non-Somali immigrant who led the non-profit organization implicated in the scandal, was sentenced to 41 years in prison after being convicted last year of masterminding the scheme.
The president exploited this fraud issue as part of his justification for targeting the Democratic-led state, by launching an intense campaign earlier this year to arrest and deport immigrants, and taking measures aimed at restricting social services programs in the state.
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said in response to Trump’s post: “The Somalis in Minnesota are our neighbors. They are part of Minnesota. “The Minnesota I know and love is much bigger than this intolerance.”
In another post late on Wednesday, Trump described Abdul Sayed, a Muslim and Democratic Party candidate for the US Senate for the state of Michigan, as an “extremist radical” and a “terrorist sympathiser,” while at the same time expressing his support for Republican candidate Mike Rogers.
Democrats said Trump's speech aims to distract voters from the repercussions of his policies as the midterm elections approach in November.
Al-Sayed, who has been subjected to anti-Muslim attacks from other Republicans, commented on Thursday: “He believes he can use my name and religion to distract us from the suffering his policies cause us at gas stations, in grocery stores, and at the doctor’s office.”
The Michigan Democratic Party and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer described Trump's speech as desperate and racist.
Trump has previously targeted minorities in his speeches, and published false claims that immigrants from Haiti in an Ohio town eat pets.
US President Donald Trump said that those who do not adhere to adopting the term “superior intelligence” instead of “artificial intelligence” will be treated as “enemies,” without clarifying the nature of the consequences resulting from that.
Trump wrote on his platform, Truth Social, “The White House considers anyone who uses the term (artificial intelligence) instead of the new, more acceptable and accurate term (superintelligence), an enemy!”
Trump proposed this name during a speech he delivered before the United Nations General Assembly last month, saying that the new term “sounds much better.”
In late September, the president signed an executive order mandating the use of the term “super intelligence” in US government institutions.
While the new name cannot be imposed on the private sector, some companies have already begun to adopt it, especially Mark Zuckerberg’s “Meta” group.
Elon Musk also uses the new term in his posts on the “X” platform.
The controversy over the naming is seen as having a political nature, as the US President, known for his strong defense of this technology, seeks to give it a positive image in light of growing concerns about the security of artificial intelligence systems and mounting criticism related to the expansion of data centers within the United States.
US President Donald Trump announced that the United States will not resume its military attacks on Iran before the midterm congressional elections scheduled for November 3, adding that the US blockade of Iranian ports is still in effect, and that oil is flowing through the Strait of Hormuz.
During an election campaign to support Republican candidates this week, Trump had indicated his confidence that the end of the war might come in the days before or after the elections, but at the same time he stressed that he was still ready to resume large-scale military operations against Iran.
In a post on social media yesterday, Trump said that the United States “will not attack Iran at any time before the midterm elections.”
He added that his team is “holding fruitful discussions with Iran.” Trump's post comes at a time when US military forces have sent more equipment to the region.
The negotiations seemed faltering since Trump publicly rejected, late last month, an Iranian proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz within 7 days, in exchange for Washington responding to conditions set by Tehran.
In conjunction with this, Washington announced yesterday the imposition of new sanctions targeting “the remainder of the Iranian shadow fleet” of tankers that Tehran uses to transport oil products to foreign markets, in the latest step to escalate pressures within the framework of the war.
Treasury Secretary Scott Besent explained that the aim of these measures is to deprive Tehran of the funds it needs “to wage war in the region.”
