'My name has always been Ilhan Omar': Congresswoman hits back at Trump, calls him a 'creep'

US Representative Ilhan Omar responded sharply to President Donald Trump on Friday after he accused her of using a false identity, as his administration seeks to have the Minnesota congresswoman deported. In a post on Truth Social, Trump cited a US Department of Justice (DOJ) court filing that referred to Omar as ‘Ilhan Nur Said Elmi’ without providing an explanation for the name.

“It was just revealed that Ilhan Omar’s name is not Ilhan Omar, the one she used to get elected and sworn into Congress, but rather, it’s an entirely different name, Ilhan Nur Said Elmi, and that her last name is, incredibly, also the exact name of her brother, Ahmed Nur Said Elmi, the person they said she married and had children with,” Trump wrote on Thursday night, referencing another unproven conspiracy theory that Omar has long denied. “Because she used a fake name to be sworn in, I assume she must IMMEDIATELY resign from Congress. Please inform the Speaker of the House of Representatives, James Michael Johnson, that the Dumocrat Party has just conceded her seat.”

A spokesperson for Omar told Fox News that the allegation that she had been living under an alias was completely false. Fox 9 Minneapolis-St. Paul reported that the 44-year-old congresswoman had used the name ‘Ilhan Omar’ as early as age 17, when she appeared under that name in her Edison High School yearbook as a junior. The Associated Press also found that she had used the name Ilhan Omar in marriage licenses, divorce proceedings, voter registrations and other public records dating back nearly two decades.

Responding to Trump's remarks, Omar accused him of promoting conspiracy theories and criticised the Justice Department. “The pedophile protection party’s president is laundering right-wing conspiracy theories through the most corrupt DOJ in American history,” Omar wrote on social media. “Whenever the news turns bad, this creep reaches for one name: mine. So let’s make it crystal clear. My name has always been Ilhan Omar.” “Maybe you should focus on what your VP’s real name is,” she added, referring to Vice President JD Vance, who was born James Donald Bowman and has legally changed his name twice.

See what Ilhan Omar posted on X

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Federal investigation into Omar's citizenship

The latest dispute follows a raid on Omar's home last week as part of an investigation into her citizenship by the US Department of Homeland Security. According to reports, the investigation is focused not on allegations involving Omar's brother but on whether she or members of her family provided false information during their immigration process and subsequent acquisition of US citizenship. Investigators are reportedly examining whether Omar or her father falsified her birth date, listing her as 17 instead of 18 so she could obtain citizenship through him as a minor. Omar has not been charged with a crime, and investigators have not publicly presented evidence supporting the allegation.

Trump continues attacks on Omar

Trump has repeatedly made attacks against Somali Americans during his presidency, calling for their deportation and describing them as ‘garbage’ with ‘low IQs’. His efforts to target Omar for deportation have frequently included remarks about her Somali heritage. Speaking at a campaign rally in Iowa this week, Trump criticised the congresswoman and her country of origin. “She’s been a scammer for a long time. I’m pretty good at watching that stuff, and she comes from a non-country, basically. Somalia has no government, has no nothing,” he said during the rally. “All they do is run around shooting each other. Then she comes over here.”

Meanwhile, Representative Randy Fine, a Republican from Florida, announced plans to introduce a resolution on Friday seeking Omar's expulsion from Congress if she is found to have broken the law. Fine has previously described Omar as a 'terrorist' and called for the mass deportation of all Muslim immigrants from the United States.