ISTANBUL

US President Donald Trump said Wednesday that Washington will ‘immediately’ halt payments to sanctuary cities.

"Starting immediately, there will be no more payments to sanctuary cities, because they are really just sanctuaries for criminals," Trump told the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

It is a shift from last week's declaration on his social media platform Truth Social, when he set a Feb. 1 deadline for states and cities.

The US president accused jurisdictions of protecting "murderers, drug dealers, the mentally insane."

Trump also said authorities are addressing more than $19 billion in fraud "stolen by Somalian bandits" in the state of Minnesota, suggesting eliminating half the fraud nationwide "would have a balanced budget without having to talk about even growth."

"The situation in Minnesota reminds us that the West cannot mass import foreign cultures which have failed to ever build a successful society of their own," he added.

Sanctuary cities typically limit local law enforcement cooperation with federal immigration authorities. The US Justice Department has designated 11 states as sanctuary jurisdictions, including California, Illinois, Minnesota and New York, and also the District of Columbia.