The four women President Donald Trump is thought to have been referring to in his tweets are collectively known as the squad.

All four are elected members of the House of Representatives, from minority groups, but only one was born outside the US, despite Mr Trump’s suggestion they should go back and fix the broken and crime-infested places where they came from.

Mr Trump defended the tweets on Monday and suggested the Democrat figures leave the country if they have complaints.

Here are the politicians Mr Trump is thought to have been referring to:

– Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, 29

The Bronx-born former bartender is the charismatic star of the class of 2018, winning her seat in a primary and turning her massive social media following into a measure of power on Capitol Hill.

Trump Democrats
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP)

Ms Ocasio-Cortez, a self-described democratic socialist, has clashed with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi over the influence of newcomers.

She has also been conspicuously courted by some of the party’s many presidential candidates, including senators Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Bernie Sanders of Vermont.

To Mr Trump, she tweeted: “Mr President, the country I ‘come from,’ & the country we all swear to, is the United States.”

– Representative Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, 36

Ms Omar was a child when her family fled civil war in Somalia, an African nation of about 12 million, after it was shattered by a civil war in 1991.

She spent years in a refugee camp in Kenya and migrated to the United States as a refugee in 1995.

Trump Democrats
Ilhan Omar (Nick Wagner/AP)

Ms Omar became eligible for citizenship five years after the family entered.

She became a US citizen in 2000.

In the House, she has repeatedly run up against more senior Democrats over her remarks about Israel and what she said was a need to question the Jewish state’s influence in Washington.

To Mr Trump, she tweeted: “The only country we swear an oath to is the United States. Which is why we are fighting to protect it from the worst, most corrupt and inept president we have ever seen.”

– Representative Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, 42

The Detroit native is the first Palestinian American elected to the House.

She and Ms Omar are the first Muslim American women to serve in the chamber.

Like Ms Omar, Ms Tlaib made a name for herself almost immediately after Ms Pelosi gavelled the new session of Congress into session in January.

That night, Ms Tlaib was videotaped talking to a liberal group, saying of Mr Trump: “We’re gonna impeach the motherf*****.”

Congress Immigration
Rashida Tlaib (Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP)

No such effort is under way even now, in large part because Ms Pelosi and other Democrats do not see bipartisan public sentiment for doing so.

To Mr Trump, Ms Tlaib tweeted: “Keep talking, you just make me work harder. I’m proud of my Palestinian roots & a weak bully like you never wins.”

– Representative Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts, 45

A Cincinnati native raised in Chicago, Ms Pressley worked for Representative Joseph P Kennedy and worked for John Kerry for 13 years while he served in the Senate.

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Ayanna Pressley (Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP)

In 2009, she ran for an at-large seat on Boston City Council and became the first woman of colour elected to the body in its 100-year history.

Of Mr Trump’s tweets, she responded: “This is what racism looks like. We are what democracy looks like. And we’re not going anywhere. Except back to DC to fight for the families you marginalise and vilify everyday.”