“President Donald Trump has targeted Ilhan Omar with lies and smear campaigns for ten years.” — Ilhan Omar. Our verdict: Mostly True.
Ilhan Omar made the claim on 15 October 2026, in comments reported amid a federal investigation into her, as covered by the Sunday Guardian and The Hill.
Our verdict
Mostly True
Ilhan Omar's claim is mostly true. President Donald Trump has repeatedly made false statements about her and attacked her in public, but we could not independently confirm that this targeting began a full ten years ago.
What we found
We found solid evidence that Trump has spread false claims about Omar and attacked her personally. Al Jazeera and The Guardian both reported that he said she was in the country illegally, which is untrue because she is a naturalised US citizen. The American Presidency Project records that in July 2019 he called her "Foul Mouthed" and accused her of "hatred of our Country", and her official House page notes he called her "garbage" while supporters chanted "send her back". Democratic leaders also said he had targeted her with personal attacks and baseless accusations over multiple years. What we could not verify is the exact ten-year timeframe. The only sources for that figure are Omar's own statements, reported by The Hill and the Sunday Guardian, and we found no independent evidence of Trump targeting her before 2019. So the smear campaign is well supported, but the ten-year duration is not.
The evidence
3 of 6 sources support the claim; none contradict it.
- Background
Al Jazeera reported that Trump publicly claimed Omar is in the country illegally, contradicting her documented status as a naturalised US citizen. [1]
- Supports the claim
The Guardian's fact check found that Trump made demonstrably false claims about Omar's immigration status. [2]
- Supports the claim
The American Presidency Project records Trump's July 2019 tweets calling Omar "Foul Mouthed" and accusing her of "hatred of our Country". [3]
- Background
Omar's official House page notes Trump called her "garbage" and that supporters chanted "send her back". [4]
- Supports the claim
Democratic leadership said Trump had targeted Omar with personal attacks and baseless accusations over multiple years. [5]
- Background
The Hill reported Omar's statement that Trump has targeted her with lies and smear campaigns for ten years. [6]
What we could not confirm
- Whether Trump's targeting of Omar actually began a full ten years ago, in 2016. We found no independent or contemporaneous evidence of Trump targeting her before 2019, so the 2016 to 2018 period is unverified.
How we checked
We looked at news reports, official fact checks, archived presidential tweets and statements from Omar's office and Democratic leaders, focusing on documented public remarks by Trump about Omar and any evidence of when the targeting began. We reviewed 8 relevant sources.
Sources
- [1]aljazeera.com · Fact-checking Trump’s Pennsylvania speech and his Politico interview · December 10, 2025
- [2]theguardian.com · Fact check: Trump’s racist and false claims on immigration and cost of living · December 9, 2025
- [3]presidency.ucsb.edu · Tweets of July 19, 2019 | The American Presidency Project · July 19, 2019
- [4]omar.house.gov · Trump called her 'garbage.' Rep. Ilhan Omar says she remains unfazed.
- [5]jeffries.house.gov · JOINT DEMOCRATIC LEADERSHIP STATEMENT ON THE RAID ON ILHAN OMAR'S HOME · October 12, 2026
- [6]thehill.com · Trump calls Omar ‘totally crooked’ in first remarks on raid · October 12, 2026
- [7]Original statement · News report · October 15, 2026
- [8]Photo: Kristie Boyd; U.S. House Office of Photoraphy / Wikimedia Commons, Public domain
Have evidence we missed?
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