Donald Trump addressed a New Year’s Eve gathering at Mar-a-Lago, alleging that $18bn has been stolen in a Minnesota childcare fraud scandal. He claimed that California, Illinois, and New York are also involved in similar corruption. Trump’s comments followed a viral video by Nick Shirley, which accused Somali-operated daycare centres in Minneapolis of fraudulently collecting $100m in federal grants. The Trump administration has since frozen $185m in childcare funds and demanded an audit. Trump labelled Minnesota a “hub of fraudulent money laundering activity,” while FBI Director Kash Patel stated: “this is just the tip of a very large iceberg.”
