Saturday July 11, 2026
Minneapolis (AX) — St. Louis Park Mayor Nadia Mohamed pushed back Friday against critics who questioned her recent trip to Somalia after she traveled there over the July 4 holiday in the United States.
The St. Louis Park city government clarified that the journey was personal and not connected to official city business, and that Mohamed covered all travel costs herself.
During the visit, Mohamed attended meetings and events in Mogadishu, including a meeting with Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud. She was also warmly welcomed by officials and community members and visited universities.
City officials reiterated the trip was taken in a private capacity and was not conducted on behalf of the municipality.
In a video posted on X on July 8, 2026, Mohamed, the first Somali, Muslim and Black woman elected mayor of St. Louis Park, rejected the criticism and said she had used vacation days and a federal holiday to see family members she had not seen in 10 years.
“Allow me to offer my sincerest apology for daring, for having the audacity to take vacation time to go see family members I have not seen in 10 years,” Mohamed said sarcastically in the clip.
She noted that she has served the residents of St. Louis Park for six years and used her time off to visit her grandmothers.
“How inconsiderate of me,” she said. “How treacherous was it?”
Mohamed pointed out that her meeting with Hassan Sheikh Mohamud was not her first encounter with a foreign head of state, noting she previously met the former president of Switzerland without drawing similar scrutiny.
“Nobody asked me about that one,” she said. “I would have loved to tell you about that. I would have loved to have an entire news article written about that.”
Mohamed accused detractors of tapping into anti-Somali sentiment to drive online traffic.
“They literally get their clicks and views off of hating Somali people,” she said. “The minute they mention Somali people, their clicks and views go up.”
The reaction to Mohamed’s trip arrives amid heightened tensions affecting Somali and Muslim communities across Minnesota.
Leaders in the Twin Cities recently condemned President Donald Trump after he shared a social media post featuring Minnesota kindergarten students, including Somali children wearing hijabs, a move that sparked concerns about a rise in anti-Somali and anti-Muslim rhetoric.
