Trump on alleged fraud: ‘Not gonna pay Illinois’

By Jim Talamonti | The Center Square
The Center Square

(The Center Square) – President Donald Trump says the federal government won’t pay for child care fraud in Illinois.

The president spoke with reporters aboard Air Force One Sunday and discussed fraud allegations against Minnesota day care centers. Trump said Somali operators have stolen at least $19 billion from Minnesota and the United States.

“We’re not gonna pay them and we’re not gonna pay California, and we’re not gonna pay Illinois with that big slob of a governor that they have,” Trump said.

The federal government appropriated more than $412 million to Illinois for child care programs in 2025.

The president blasted Minnesota Gov. and former vice presidential candidate Tim Walz.

“This very stupid, low IQ governor, he’s a very stupid man because, you know I had to campaign against him with [Vice President J.D. Vance], he’s a stupid man and he’s a corrupt politician,” Trump said.

Hours after the president made the remarks, Walz announced he was ending his bid for reelection as Minnesota governor.

In a social media post Monday morning, Walz said an organized group of criminals sought to take advantage of his state’s generosity.

“And even as we make progress in the fight against the fraudsters, we now see an organized group of political actors seeking to take advantage of the crisis,” Walz posted.

The Minnesota governor said Trump and his allies want to make the state “a colder, meaner place.”

Trump reacted to Walz’s news with a social media post of his own.

“Governor Walz has destroyed the State of Minnesota, but others, like Governor Gavin Newscum, JB Pritzker, and Kathy Hochul, have done, in my opinion, an even more dishonest and incompetent job. NO ONE IS ABOVE THE LAW!” Trump posted on Truth Social.

In addition to lobbing insults at Democratic governors, Trump said Pritzker wanted the National Guard to leave Illinois despite a recent day of violence.

“Seventeen murders and 77 people shot, but 17 died, and then he talks about, ‘Oh, we can handle it.’ He can’t handle it,” Trump asserted.

After announcing last week that he was pulling the National Guard out of Chicago, the president promised Sunday that troops would return.

“We pulled back, and we’ll go in at the appropriate time. We’re the ones that brought the crime down. We brought it down 20%. They didn’t bring it down. Pritzker didn’t bring it down,” Trump said.

The president’s remarks came as the Illinois governor is expected to face questions about child care funding and potential fraud allegations in the Land of Lincoln.

The federal government appropriated more than $412 million to Illinois for child care programs in 2025, far more than Minnesota’s nearly $185 million.

The Illinois state budget for fiscal year 2026 includes $2 billion for Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP), an increase from $1,789,399,000 in fiscal year 2025. This year’s budget also allocates $777,099,000 for Child Care Services.

According to the Illinois Child Care Program Report, CCAP served 198,095 children in fiscal year 2024.

The report documented 26,915 providers that year, 6,979 of which were licensed and categorized as child care centers, family child care homes or group child care homes. The other 18,980 providers were license-exempt centers and homes.

According to the Illinois Department Human Services’ administrative code, the agency “will recover overpayments from providers or parents and other relatives, as appropriate, through demand letters, referrals to the Comptroller’s Office for withholding, referrals to collection agencies, reductions in future payments or public assistance benefits, or other means determined by the Department to be effective.”

The overpayments could include intentional program violations and fraud, but the consequences of such violations remain unclear.

“Families who are receiving (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) TANF (and their child care providers) and have child care listed as a required activity on their Responsibility and Service Plan are exempted from suspension or termination,” DHS states.

Several Illinois cases have drawn attention from federal authorities in recent years.

In April 2024, the owner of Chicago-area child care centers was sentenced to four years in federal prison for scheming to fraudulently obtain more than $3.3 million in state of Illinois subsidies designed to help low-income families afford child care.

Aleesha McDowell, 44, of Mokena owned child care centers in Calumet City, Calumet Park and Chicago. In addition to the prison sentence, U.S. District Judge Manish S. Shah ordered McDowell to pay $3,339,563 of restitution.

In August 2023, a former Illinois Department of Children and Family Services social worker and 14 others were indicted on federal charges for allegedly participating in a scheme to fraudulently obtain $3.2 million in state funds intended for childcare services. The 41-count indictment alleged that Shauntele Y. Pridgeon, 54, orchestrated the fraud scheme from 2016 to 2022 while serving as a Community Social Service Planner for DCFS in Chicago.

According to the indictment, Pridgeon directed at least $3.2 million in state of Illinois funds to the co-defendants and others, each of whom agreed to receive the money even though they knew that no foster children were actually in their care.

Child care fraud can be reported on the Illinois Department of Human Services website or by phone. If you suspect the recipient of Medicaid, TANF, or child care benefits is committing fraud, call 1-844-453-7283/1-844-ILFRAUD.

Greg Bishop contributed to this report.