Mogadishu, Somalia - Somalis responded with a mix of resentment and resignation on Wednesday to President Donald Trump's tirade against them in which he said their country "stinks" and the US did not want their emigrants.

Trump's heated remarks on Tuesday followed a scandal in Minnesota, where prosecutors say around $1 billion had been lost largely through false billing by Somali Americans.

In a cabinet meeting, the president accused Somali migrants of being ungrateful, saying "we don't want them in our country" and in Somalia, "they have no anything, they just run around killing each other."

The Somali government has said nothing about the outburst and did not respond to a request for comment from AFP, likely worried about offending a key provider of defense and humanitarian aid, even if the support has dwindled under the Trump administration.

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But Somalis in the capital Mogadishu were upset.

"It is not the first time that President Trump spoke negatively about Somalia and the Somali people, but this time his offenses are unacceptable. It is high time that the Somali government breaks its silence and tells Trump to stop insulting Somalia," Daud Bare, a grocer in the city's Waberi district, told AFP.

Sumaya Hassan Ali, a 23-year-old college student, said Trump's comments were "rude".

"Every country has its own faults, even America," she said. "We know that many people are being killed in American cities every year, sometimes more than those killed in Somalia."

She criticized Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud for his silence, but others understood the difficulty.

"The US government is supporting Somalia in the fight against what they call terrorism. If the federal government irritates Trump, he may not hesitate to withdraw the US government support as he did before," said university lecturer Mahdi Ibrahim.

Nuradin Abdi, a local NGO worker, was more sanguine.

"Trump may be rude to Somalia, but we cannot ignore the fact that most of the things he says about Somalia are true," Abdi said.

"Somalia is still struggling with wars and corruption, and its people are refugees all over the world. If we want to change the negative global narrative about Somalia, we need to change our country and improve our governance systems," he said.