President Trump dismissed the attack on Rep. Ilhan Omar at a Minneapolis town hall on Tuesday, suggesting that she staged the incident herself and saying he had no interest in watching video of what occurred.
“Just spoke to Pres. Trump,” a reporter recounted after asking the president about the incident. Asked whether he had seen footage of Omar being attacked and sprayed with a substance, Trump responded, “No. I don’t think about her. I think she’s a fraud. I really don’t think about that. She probably had herself sprayed, knowing her.” When pressed again on whether he had viewed the video, Trump said, “I haven’t seen it. No, no. I hope I don’t have to bother.”
Just spoke to Pres. Trump. I asked him if he had seen the video of Rep. Omar being attacked and sprayed by a substance.
— Rachel Scott (@rachelvscott) January 28, 2026
“No. I don't think about her. I think she's a fraud. I really don't think about that. She probably had herself sprayed, knowing her,” the president said.
I…
The comments came hours after Omar was sprayed with an unknown substance by an unidentified man during her monthly town hall meeting in Minneapolis, according to her office and video from the event. Her staff said the individual used a syringe to spray the substance before being subdued. Omar continued the event despite the incident.
NEW — Rep. Ilhan Omar was just charged by a man at a town hall event in Minneapolis. Crowd says he "sprayed her" with something.
— Jay O'Brien (@jayobtv) January 28, 2026
You can hear Omar demand to continue the town hall — and she's back to speaking now from the podium. pic.twitter.com/4OpSWHo0Z9
“During her town hall, an agitator tried to attack the congresswoman by spraying an unknown substance with a syringe,” her office said in a statement. “She continued with her town hall, because she doesn’t let bullies win.” Omar later thanked attendees, writing that she was “grateful to my incredible constituents who rallied behind me.”
The Office of Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) issued the following statement following the incident at her town hall in North Minneapolis.
— Rep. Ilhan Omar (@Ilhan) January 28, 2026
“During her town hall, an agitator tried to attack the Congresswoman by spraying an unknown substance with a syringe. Security and the Minneapolis…
The incident unfolded against the backdrop of heightened political unrest in Minnesota, particularly in Minneapolis, following the fatal shootings of two U.S. citizens, Alex Pretti and Renee Good, by federal immigration officials earlier this month. The shootings sparked protests and renewed scrutiny of Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations, with Omar emerging as one of the most vocal critics of the agency. She has called ICE “out of control” and argued that its funding should be stripped.
Omar, 43, has long been a polarizing figure on the national stage. First elected to Congress in 2018, she rose to prominence as part of a group of progressive lawmakers known as “the Squad,” frequently challenging Democratic leadership and serving as a sharp critic of Trump. She has faced repeated threats over the years and has been the target of sustained attacks from the former president, who has regularly questioned her loyalty, background, and conduct in office.
Trump’s feud with Omar escalated further this week after he suggested she had profited from welfare fraud in Minnesota and claimed, without offering evidence, that the Justice Department was scrutinizing her. His response to the town hall attack marked the latest flashpoint in that long-running conflict.
The assault and Trump’s reaction have drawn fresh attention to the increasingly volatile political climate in Minnesota, where tensions over immigration enforcement, federal authority, and public safety have intensified in recent weeks. As protests continue and investigations into the shootings remain unresolved, the incident involving Omar underscored how national political divisions are increasingly intersecting with physical confrontations on the ground.
