❓WHAT HAPPENED: The Trump administration has temporarily halted certain Medicaid funding to Minnesota to address fraud concerns.
👤WHO WAS INVOLVED: Vice President J.D. Vance, President Donald J. Trump, and Dr. Mehmet Oz, administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
📍WHEN & WHERE: The announcement was made on Wednesday, February 25, 2026.
💬KEY QUOTE: “We’re announcing today that we have decided to temporarily halt certain amounts of Medicaid funding that are going to the state of Minnesota in order to ensure that the state of Minnesota takes its obligations seriously to be good stewards of the American people’s tax money.” — Vice President Vance
🎯IMPACT: The decision aims to address fraud and ensure accountability in the use of taxpayer funds.
The Trump administration is moving to temporarily halt certain Medicaid funding to Minnesota amid ongoing investigations into widespread social services fraud linked to the state’s Somali immigrant community. Vice President J.D. Vance—along with Dr. Mehmet Oz, administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Service (CMS)—announced the funding suspension on Wednesday after President Donald J. Trump announced that Vance would oversee his administration’s anti-fraud efforts during the State of the Union address Tuesday evening.
“We’re announcing today that we have decided to temporarily halt certain amounts of Medicaid funding that are going to the state of Minnesota in order to ensure that the state of Minnesota takes its obligations seriously to be good stewards of the American people’s tax money,” Vance said. During Tuesday’s State of the Union address, President Trump declared a “war on fraud,” accusing some Minnesota Somalians of having “pillaged” billions in U.S. taxpayer dollars.
🚨 @VP: “We have decided to temporarily halt certain amounts of Medicaid funding that are going to the state of Minnesota in order to ensure that the state of Minnesota takes its obligation seriously to be good stewards of the American people’s tax money.” pic.twitter.com/XD0JMA5p3w
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) February 25, 2026
Meanwhile, Dr. Oz detailed some of the social fraud schemes uncovered by CMS investigators, stating, “There is a fraud scheme in Minnesota where criminals—soon to be criminals—pay moms $1,000, roughly, in order to enroll their children as being autistic, falsely and dishonestly claiming their children are autistic. They then bill Medicaid—this has already happened—millions of dollars for services that were never rendered.”
🚨 BREAKING: Dr. Oz and JD Vance just confirmed “immigrant” AUTISM FRAUD is RAMPANT in Minnesota, and now the Trump admin is withholding a QUARTER BILLION in payments to the state
“There are schemes in Minnesota where criminals pay moms $1,000 in order to enroll their children… pic.twitter.com/7sy2euLxef
— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) February 25, 2026
The National Pulse previously reported in January that the Trump administration revealed it had suspended nearly 7,000 borrowers from Small Business Administration (SBA) loan programs in Minnesota over suspected fraud involving pandemic-era Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) funds. Meanwhile, the Department of Justice (DOJ) confirmed last December that 85 members of the Minnesota Somali community have been charged as part of the ongoing and far-reaching social services fraud probe.
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