Ms Omar is a US citizen who emigrated from Somalia with her family after fleeing the country’s civil war. The chants, which came after Mr Trump criticised Ms Omar and three other congresswomen, were widely condemned, including by some Republicans.
“I was not happy with it. I disagree with it,” Mr Trump said of the chant. He did not elaborate on with what he disagreed. “It was quite a chant and I felt a little bit badly about it,” Mr Trump told reporters on Thursday. “I started speaking very quickly but it started up rather fast, as you probably noticed.” The controversial chants took place at Mr Trump’s campaign rally in North Carolina. Mr Trump was cheered on by the crowd of thousands as he again accused Ms Omar and her fellow congresswomen Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Rashia Tlaib, Ayanna Pressley – known as “the squad” – of hating America. Ahead of the rally, a bid to impeach Mr Trump was blocked in Congress. Critics say it echoed the “lock her up” phrase adopted by his supporters against Hillary Clinton in the run-up to the 2016 presidential election. The chant comes as tensions escalate between the president and the four Democratic congresswomen over recent tweets, in which Mr Trump told the then four politicians to “go back” to their countries.