lhan Omar’s Somaliland stance slammed as Minnesota fraud scandal deepens

Michael Rubin says billions in fraud losses highlight contrast with breakaway region's stability, democratic institutions

Emma Bussey / Fox News

Rep. Ilhan Omar’s defense of Somalia’s territorial claims and her opposition to the recognition of an independent Somaliland has been criticized as authorities ramp up investigations into alleged mass fraud in her home state.

One analyst argued the corruption scandal allegedly involving Somali communities in Minnesota is relevant when contrasting failures in Somalia and the stability of Somaliland, an autonomous region that Omar has opposed recognizing.

Michael Rubin, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, claimed highlighting the difference between the two regions "mattered."

"The corruption exposed in Minnesota mirrors the governance failures that have plagued Somalia for decades," Rubin told Fox News Digital.

"Somaliland has charted a different course entirely, relying on internal accountability rather than international assistance and that distinction matters right now," he said.

Minnesota was engulfed in controversy after revelations that fraud losses across multiple government programs since 2018 could total billions of dollars, according to a Wall Street Journal report. Read more and see video here.  

Zelensky says US offering Ukraine 15-year security guarantee in latest peace plan

Samuel Chamberlain / NEW YORK POST

 

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky told reporters Monday that the US is currently offering Ukraine a 15-year security guarantee in the latest draft plan to end Russia’s long-running invasion.

Zelensky, answering questions via WhatsApp one day after his high-stakes meeting with President Trump at the latter’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Fla., said he had told Trump that Kyiv would like the guarantee to be extended for up to 50 years.

“I raised this issue with the president. I told him that our war is still going on, and it has been almost 15 years,” Zelensky said.

“Therefore, we would really like the guarantees to be longer. I told him that we would very much like to consider the possibility of 30, 40, 50 years. And that would then be a historic decision by President Trump.”

According to the Ukrainian president, Trump said he would “think about” the request.

The exact form of the security guarantees have not been made public, but Zelensky said Monday they would include monitoring for violations of any cease-fire as well as some sort of “presence” by the US and European nations. Read more here.