Trump calls on Ilhan Omar to resign, claims she's using 'fake name'

President Donald Trump is calling on Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., to “immediately resign,” claiming she used a fake name to be sworn into Congress. In response, the Democratic congresswoman accused the president of "laundering right-wing conspiracy theories."

Trump made the demand in a Truth Social post Thursday evening.

“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. When asked whether or not she married her brother, she said, 'Not to my knowledge.' In other words, she somehow didn’t know? Therefore, because she used a fake name to be sworn in, I assume she must IMMEDIATELY resign from Congress.”

The president closed the post with a message to House Speaker Mike Johnson,  R-La., saying the Democratic Party had “just conceded” Omar’s seat. 

“Ilhan Nur Said Elmi, her real name, has openly admitted to FRAUD, and she will not be legally allowed to be a Member of this August Body from this point forth.”

The post referenced a Wednesday court filing in which federal prosecutors called Omar “Congresswoman Ilhan Nur Said Elmi, a/k/a Ilhan Abdullahi Omar.” The filing came a week after federal agents searched Omar’s Washington, D.C., home under a warrant.

Trump repeated his call for Omar’s removal during a rally Thursday in Iowa.

“If you get sworn in with a false name, I would imagine that’s pretty tough to remain,” he said.

In an X post Friday, Omar claimed Trump is pushing "conspiracy theories through the most corrupt DOJ in American history."

"Whenever the news turns bad, this creep reaches for one name: mine," Omar wrote. "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."

In an interview Wednesday with MS NOW’s Chris Hayes, Omar was asked whether she was related by blood to her ex-husband, Ahmed Nur Said Elmi. She replied, “Not to my knowledge.”

Omar also said agents seized 17 items during the search, including phones. She said she plans to move out of her D.C. apartment because of threats she has received since then.

Describing herself as a “person of enormous faith,” the Somali-born Omar said she remained “confident” she had done nothing wrong.

“And I know that … if I continue to live my truth, if I continue to fight for the right things, if I continue to stand up to bullies and people who are carrying out un-Godly corruption, I’m going to be OK,” she added.

Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, suggested Thursday on Fox News that questions about Omar’s name could be tied to a federal investigation.

“If you have citizenship in this country, your derivative citizenship, or your naturalization, your application, will turn on precise information, and you have an obligation to report that precise information,” Pirro said. “So the question is, who is Ilhan Omar, and has she followed all of the laws as it relates to naturalization and immigration.”

Omar, a longtime member of the progressive group of House Democrats known as “the Squad,” which includes Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, has clashed publicly with Trump since his first administration. During that time, she was investigated over alleged immigration fraud. Omar denied the allegations.

Earlier this year, Omar condemned Trump over his public feud with Pope Leo XIV about the Iran war, accusing him and members of his administration of failing to live up to the tenets of Christianity.

Asked about the Trump administration’s criticism of the pope, Omar said, “How deranged do you have to be to be upset with the pope for preaching about peace and love in the spirit of Jesus Christ?”

“It’s telling that these people who say they are people of faith are far from being people of faith and far from practicing Christianity and having respect for the Bible and religious leaders,” she said.