Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., publicly fired back at President Donald Trump on Friday after he called on her to resign from Congress and revived years-old allegations about her name and a past marriage.
“The pedophile protection party’s president is laundering right-wing conspiracy theories through the most corrupt DOJ in American history,” Omar wrote on X. “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.”
Omar also turned her criticism toward Vice President JD Vance, writing, “Maybe you should focus on what your VP’s real name is.”
The exchange follows a Fox News Digital report, citing two people familiar with an ongoing federal investigation, including a law enforcement source, that Omar’s birth name is Ilhan Nur Said Elmi. A Justice Department court filing this week, tied to a search warrant for her Washington-area home, referred to the congresswoman as “Congresswoman Ilhan Nur Said Elmi, a/k/a Ilhan Abdullahi Omar.”
Omar’s office has disputed that reporting, stating flatly that “Ilhan Omar is her real name.” She has not been charged with any crime.
Trump seized on the court filing Thursday, writing on Truth Social that “it was just revealed that Ilhan Omar’s name is not Ilhan Omar,” accusing her of using a “fake name” and calling for her immediate resignation. He also repeated long-standing claims that Omar’s former husband, Ahmed Nur Said Elmi, is actually her brother — an allegation Omar has consistently denied. Trump pointed to the name on the DOJ filing as proof it matched the man she had allegedly married and was related to.
Asked in an MS NOW interview this week whether she had any familial relationship with Elmi, Omar said, “Not to my knowledge.” Her spokesperson later said the remark was sarcastic and reaffirmed that Omar “repeatedly and unequivocally” denies any family connection.
The underlying federal investigation is examining whether Omar or her father made false statements on immigration paperwork. Earlier this month, agents searched Omar’s Washington, D.C., home and seized her cellphone and passport. Her sister has also been questioned as part of the inquiry, according to Fox News Digital.
