Why is Trump questioning Ilhan Omar’s name?

President Donald Trump has called for Representative Ilhan Omar to resign from Congress after a Justice Department court filing referred to the Minnesota Democrat by an additional name, Al Jazeera reported.

In a motion filed on Wednesday seeking more time to respond to requests to unseal court records, the department referred to Omar as "Ilhan Nur Said Elmi, a/k/a Ilhan Abdullahi Omar" — "a/k/a" meaning "also known as" — according to the report. The filing did not explain the relationship between the names, and it did not establish that Omar committed fraud.

The filing became public on October 22 after Fox News Digital cited it, prompting renewed speculation about Omar's identity, including longstanding rumours about her 2009 marriage, which she has repeatedly denied. Trump then publicly escalated his attacks, presenting the alternative name as evidence of fraud even though, Al Jazeera noted, the filing makes no such finding and Omar has not been charged with any criminal offences.

The dispute follows the October 12 search of Omar's Washington, DC, home under a judicially authorised search warrant, part of an ongoing criminal investigation into her immigration history. Omar has denied wrongdoing and described the search as political intimidation, according to the report.

On October 23, a spokesperson for Omar told Al Jazeera: "The Congresswoman's name has always been Ilhan Omar. Any indication otherwise is flat out false." The congresswoman also rejected the claims on X, accusing Trump of using the Justice Department to promote conspiracy theories.

The report notes the scrutiny comes amid attacks on other Muslim American politicians, including Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed, whose full name is Abdulrahman Mohamed El-Sayed.