Whenever Donald Trump speaks, much of the world reflexively rejects him because of who he is rather than what he says. But sometimes the man states truths that the polite world refuses to acknowledge. Somalia is one of those truths. Somalia is the blueprint for modern state collapse, and its dysfunction is not contained within its borders. The diaspora carries the same political culture abroad: networks built on loyalty to clans, patronage, and survival in lawless conditions. Much of this bleeds into the West, where governments refuse to confront it.
We live in the age of the Emperor’s New Clothes, where stating reality is “racist,” and critical analysis is silenced. But facts do not disappear because elites are uncomfortable. Somalia cannot be excused.
How Somalia Became a Failed State
Somalia’s collapse did not happen overnight. It is the product of decades of mismanagement, corruption, and clan politics. Independence in 1960 was celebrated as a chance for a unified Somali nation, but internal rivalries, poor institutions, and mismanaged ambitions quickly destabilized the state. The Ogaden
War with Ethiopia in the 1970s, Barre’s dictatorship, and the collapse of central authority in 1991 left Somalia without functional governance. Warlords, militias, piracy, and smuggling stepped into the vacuum.
External powers can be blamed, and yes, Cold War meddling created openings. But countries with worse colonial histories built functional institutions; Somalia’s failure is overwhelmingly self- inflicted. Leadership failed. Institutions failed. Accountability failed.
Compare this with Somaliland, which declared independence the same year Somalia collapsed. Without aid, without recognition, without foreign troops, Somaliland created a functioning state. This demonstrates the problem is not geography or history — it is culture, governance, and choices.
The Somali Exodus
Millions fled Somalia. They established communities across Europe, North America, and the Gulf. Many succeeded. Some replicated the same corrupt political culture they fled. In the UK, Somali gangs dominate trafficking, robbery, and organized crime in parts of London and Birmingham. Sweden reports Somali-run criminal networks engaged in extortion and violent crime. In the US, Minnesota federal investigations documented hundreds of millions of dollars siphoned from welfare programs through shell
companies and fake services, some of which went to extremist groups in Somalia.
These are documented patterns. Western governments imported the consequences of a failed state, then censored discussion under the banner of multiculturalism. The result: ghettos, parallel power structures, and communities resistant to integration. This is not prejudice. It is the exportation of a failed political culture.
The Recent Controversy and Al Shabaab
Trump highlighted fraud tied to Somali diaspora networks. Activists screamed, but federal reports back him up. In Minnesota, multiple documented cases show that hundreds of millions of dollars were siphoned from public aid programs, including school meal services during the COVID-19 pandemic, Medicaid-funded autism and behavioral intervention services, and housing assistance programs. Notable cases include the Feeding Our Future nonprofit, which submitted fraudulent invoices and claimed
services that were never delivered, resulting in dozens of indictments and convictions. For example, Abdiaziz Shafii Farah was sentenced to 28 years in federal prison for wire fraud, money laundering, and bribery, and Asha Farhan Hassan was accused of running multi-million-dollar Medicaid fraud schemes that included false autism diagnoses and kickbacks to families.
Investigations documented that some of these funds were sent overseas via informal remittance networks known as hawalas. While these networks are legitimate in many cases, they can be exploited to move money without the scrutiny applied to formal banking systems. Some investigative reports have indicated that portions of these transfers may have reached Somalia, potentially ending up in areas controlled by Al Shabaab, which collects taxes and extorts communities under its control. Al Shabaab is one of the most ruthless terrorist organizations in the world, recruiting children, bombing civilians, controlling territory,
and extorting populations.
While no court has yet convicted any individual for intentionally funneling money from Minnesota fraud schemes directly to Al Shabaab, the documented flow of funds through informal channels highlights a real risk of enabling extremism indirectly. Ignoring this pattern is political malpractice. Western elites and
policymakers often pretend these networks do not exist, while Al Shabaab continues to strengthen, diaspora communities face scrutiny and backlash, and liberal states bear the cost of oversight
failures.
Federal investigations, indictments, and convictions provide verifiable evidence of these issues and underscore the need for tighter oversight, auditing of nonprofits, careful regulation of remittance networks, and greater transparency in welfare disbursements. These measures are essential to prevent fraud, limit the potential for extremist financing, and protect both the domestic population and vulnerable communities abroad.
The Powder Keg of Multiculturalism
The moment Trump spoke, the predictable chorus of Western elites emerged: “Somali communities are beyond critique.” Suddenly, Somalia is no longer a failed state. Suddenly, it is taboo to point out exported dysfunction.
Reality is binary. Somalia is either a failed state, in which case it cannot be used to justify mass immigration without oversight, or it is not, in which case the diaspora should be fixing their own country. You cannot have it both ways.
When Western governments import millions from a society built on corruption, clan loyalty, and lawlessness, and then refuse to enforce integration, the consequences are predictable: crime, extremist financing, and cultural conflict. Integration fails. Communities self-isolate. Parallel structures form. Liberalism collapses under its own ideology. Yes, being too liberal and letting in extremists will end up killing the liberalist ideas you claim to protect. And yet people still seem surprised when certain religious
groups import things as heinous as Sharia and female genital mutilation.
Conclusion
Trump can be hated. But on Somalia he is right. Liberal elites, multicultural activists, and NGOs cannot hide reality behind ideology. Somalia’s political culture exports dysfunction. Diaspora networks reproduce the same problems abroad. And Western governments refuse to confront it.
Liberalism is destroyed not by outsiders but by those too cowardly to defend it. Ignore the truth about Somalia and its diaspora at your peril. Enough is enough.