Trump’s claim: “But when it comes to the corruption that is plundering, really, it’s plundering America. There’s been no more stunning example than Minnesota, where members of the Somali community have pillaged an estimated $19 billion from the American taxpayer, we have all the information, and in actuality, the number is much higher than that.”
Check: False.
Why: Not even Trump’s Department of Justice agrees with him on this.
The fine print: There is no evidence for the “$19 billion” fraud claim, which has been shared by Republican allies of Trump in Congress and appears to have originated with Trump himself, in social media and in on-camera interviews. In December, then-U.S. attorney for Minneapolis Joe Thompson said the 14 Medicaid services under investigation had billed $18 billion *in total* since 2018 and suggested a “significant” amount, perhaps $9 billion, could be fraudulent. State officials have argued that figure, too, may be a wild overestimate. Whatever the actual figure might be, even if Thompson’s figures are right, it would be mathematically impossible for $18 billion in billings to include $19 billion in fraud.