Ahmed Elmi, the second husband of Minnesota Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, has been posting on social media as a self-described “dirty dandy” while spending time in South Africa, evading President Trump’s claims that he is Omar’s brother.
Elmi, 40, who was married to Omar from 2009 to 2017, left the United States well before their divorce was finalized. According to new reporting, he has been pursuing academic studies in the UK and South Africa. His social media accounts show him dressed in flamboyant fashion, enjoying drinks at upscale London cafés with friends.
Since the early 2020s, Elmi has studied at Bristol University in the UK, earning a doctorate and working as a research assistant in the School of Sociology, Politics and International Studies. His listed research interests include “critically queer studies,” “decolonization,” and the “center for black humanities.” More recent posts show him visiting Johannesburg, South Africa, including a photograph wearing a visitor’s pass at Witwatersrand University. “So far, so fab…a month in JoBurg,” one post read.
Elmi’s marriage to Omar has long been the subject of speculation. While legally married to him, Omar had children with her first husband, Ahmed Hirsi, leading some critics to question the legitimacy of her union with Elmi.
At a Pennsylvania rally on December 9, President Trump suggested that Omar’s marriage to Elmi was intended to secure immigration status, claiming, “She married her brother in order to get in [the US], right? We ought to get her the hell out.” Omar, a Somali immigrant who became a naturalized US citizen in 2000 at age 17, has denied any wrongdoing. Sources indicate it was actually Elmi who required assistance with immigration.
Minneapolis-based Somali blogger Abdihakim Osman told the Daily Mail in 2020 that he knew Omar growing up. Osman said Omar introduced Elmi as her brother when he first arrived in the U.S., citing his need for immigration papers. At that time, Omar had a non-legally recognized marriage to Hirsi, with whom she had two children. Omar and Elmi then married legally in 2009 in Eden Prairie, Minnesota, in a ceremony conducted by a Christian minister. The marriage would have provided Elmi a pathway to U.S. residency.
Osman described Elmi as “effeminate” in dress and demeanor and claimed Omar’s role was to steer him away from what their family considered a “decadent and immoral” lifestyle. Whether Omar and Elmi are actually siblings remains unverified, as Somali birth records are difficult to access.
After Omar’s 2016 primary win for the Minnesota House of Representatives, questions about her marriage to Elmi resurfaced. She explained to reporters that her marriage to Elmi was “a difficult part of my personal history” and not relevant to her political career. Omar has consistently called the rumors about her marriage “absurd and offensive.”
Public records show Omar had another child with Hirsi while married to Elmi. At one point, all three—Omar, Elmi, and Hirsi—shared the same address. Elmi and Hirsi also appeared in photos together, suggesting a surprisingly cordial relationship.
Omar and Elmi moved to Fargo after their 2009 wedding, attending the University of North Dakota together. Omar graduated in 2011, and the couple divorced in 2016, shortly before Omar’s congressional campaign. She subsequently legally married Hirsi.
Omar’s father is known as Nur Omar Mohamed, though some sources record his full name as Nur Said Mohamed Elmi, similar to Elmi’s full name, Ahmed Nur Said Elmi. This has fueled further speculation about their relationship.
In 2023, the Trump administration announced a large-scale immigration investigation, Operation Twin Shield, targeting Minneapolis, home to the nation’s largest Somali population. Officials cited “widespread fraud, particularly marriage fraud” in the community.
Omar divorced Hirsi in 2019 after it emerged she was involved with one of her campaign staffers, Tim Mynett, who later became her third husband in 2020.
