Opinion -Trump’s Scapegoat Politics and the Targeting of Somali Americans

On a global stage at the World Economic Forum, Donald Trump did what he often does when pressure closes in. He attacked. He mocked. He redirected. This time, Somali Americans were pulled into the blast.

The speech stretched for more than an hour. Long enough to praise allies and threaten them in the same breath. Long enough to revive old obsessions and introduce new targets. Long enough to distract from a cloud that refuses to lift. Accusations from lawmakers who say he used the presidency to shield corruption and blur the line between public power and private interest.

Trump’s remarks did not stop at foreign policy or alliances. They turned personal.

Referring to a fraud scandal that law enforcement officials say emerged in parts of Minnesota’s Somali diaspora, the president openly questioned the intelligence of Somali Americans.

“Can you believe that? Somalia,” Trump said. “They turned out to be higher I.Q. than we thought.”

The reaction in the room was immediate. Groans rippled through sections of the audience near the front. The comment landed not as a critique of policy or crime, but as a broad insult aimed at an entire community.

Trump has long fixated on Somali Americans. Over the years, he has repeatedly singled them out with language that blurs the line between individual wrongdoing and collective guilt.

For many Somali Americans in Minnesota, the damage is already done. They say the fraud case has unfairly stained a community of roughly 80,000 people, the vast majority of whom have no connection to the allegations. Teachers, nurses, small business owners, and public servants find themselves answering for crimes they did not commit.

That is how scapegoating works. A real investigation becomes a political weapon. A specific case becomes a cultural accusation. A vulnerable community becomes a shield for a president under scrutiny.

Trump did not explain how insulting Somali Americans addresses fraud. He did not explain how it improves accountability. He did not explain how it strengthens trust in institutions.

So the focus shifted.

He lashed out at NATO while standing before leaders of the alliance. He mocked European governments. He ridiculed wind energy. He returned, once again, to Greenland. And he took aim at Somali immigrants in the United States, a community that has become an easy political punching bag.

Why Somali Americans? Because they are visible. Because they are politically active. And because they lack the power to strike back at a president who knows how to weaponize fear.

This pattern is not new. When scandals surface, Trump rarely answers them directly. He changes the subject. He reframes the story. He floods the zone. It works often enough to push headlines away from the core question. What did he do, and why are lawmakers accusing him of abusing presidential power?

Instead of addressing those accusations, he turned outward.

Greenland became a symbol. Trump described the island as cold and poorly located, a strange claim for a territory he insists the United States must control for global security. He warned that China and Russia could exploit it. He framed U.S. ownership as a small and reasonable ask.