Trump says he's going after Medicaid fraud, but is mostly focusing on blue states

The Trump administration is taking aim at what it calls rampant fraud in state Medicaid programs. But by focusing almost exclusively on Democratic-led states, it has handed ammunition to critics who say it mainly wants to embarrass its political enemies, not save taxpayer dollars.

In announcing earlier this month that Vice President JD Vance would lead the administration’s anti-fraud effort, President Donald Trump said on Truth Social that Vance would focus on fraud “‘EVERYWHERE,’ but primarily in those Blue States where CROOKED DEMOCRAT POLITICIANS, like those in California, Illinois, Minnesota (Somalia beware!), Maine, New York, and many others, have had a ‘free for all’ in the unprecedented theft of Taxpayer Money.”

Four of the five states the Trump administration is targeting, at least initially, are led by Democrats: California, Maine, Minnesota and New York. (The one Republican-led state is Florida.) But fraud involving government benefits isn’t any more prevalent in Democratic-led states than in Republican-led ones, according to federal data.

In Minnesota, which has been a particular focus of the president’s ire, Attorney General Keith Ellison said the administration’s goal is to “make a political point about it and try to assign blame, as opposed to fixing the real problem in front of us.”

https://washingtonstatestandard.com/2026/04/16/repub/trump-says-hes-going-after-medicaid-fraud-but-is-mostly-focusing-on-blue-states/