Minnesota governor Tim Walz on Thursday sharply criticised President Donald Trump for calling the state’s Somali community “garbage” and referring to Minnesota as a “hellhole”, saying the remarks were “unprecedented for a United States president”. Walz said the statements targeted not only Somali Minnesotans but the state as a whole. “We’ve got little children going to school today who their president called them garbage,” he said.

Trump’s comments followed claims by conservative outlet City Journal that money from state fraud cases had reached Somalia-based militant group al-Shabab. Trump had also said on Thanksgiving that Minnesota was “a hub of fraudulent money laundering activity” and announced the termination of Temporary Protected Status for Somalis in the US. At a cabinet meeting this week he said: “We can go one way or the other, and we’re going to go the wrong way if we keep taking in garbage into our country.” On Wednesday, he added that Minnesota had become a “hellhole” and said, “Somalians should be out of here.”Republican leaders in Minnesota declined to join Walz in condemning Trump. House speaker Lisa Demuth said, “In no way do I believe any community is all bad,” but added that fraud must be addressed. State Senator Eric Pratt said, “It wasn’t said the way that I would have said it,” while expressing frustration over fraud investigations.The Minneapolis–St Paul area is home to about 84,000 Somali Americans, nearly one-third of the US Somali population. Most are US-born or naturalised citizens. Federal authorities are preparing an immigration enforcement operation in the state this week that a source familiar with the planning said would focus on Somalis living unlawfully in the country.Walz said an ongoing audit may shed light on losses from several fraud schemes, which federal prosecutors have previously estimated could reach $1 billion. He said his administration is “taking aggressive action” but added, “Demonizing an entire group of people by their race and their ethnicity … is something I was hoping we’d never have to see.”Trump’s remarks also drew criticism from Ohio lawmakers, including the Ohio Legislative Black Caucus and the Ohio Jewish Caucus, which called the comments “xenophobic, dangerous and wholly unacceptable”.