Trump Sparks Controversy Again: Offensive Remarks on U.S. Immigration

Donald Trump has stirred yet another political and media storm by repeating one of his most inflammatory remarks about immigrants.

During a rally held in Pennsylvania this Tuesday, the former President of the United States once again questioned why the country "only accepts people from shithole countries," igniting a wave of backlash due to the xenophobic and racist nature of his rhetoric.

“Why do we only accept people from shithole countries?” Trump asked during a speech to his supporters, repeating a comment he had previously denied making, yet now asserting it with pride. “Why can’t we bring in people from Norway, Sweden... Just a few, bring some from Denmark,” he stated to an audience that responded with applause and laughter.

While the phrase is not new, the defiant tone with which it was delivered was. This time, there was no pretense or subtlety.

The former president revisited the infamous 2018 meeting with lawmakers at the White House, where outlets like The Washington Post and The New York Times reported that Trump had used the same derogatory term for Haiti, El Salvador, and some African countries.

Back then, he publicly denied it. Now, in 2025, he repeats and boasts about it.

“We always accept people from Somalia,” he continued on Tuesday, referring to the nation as "filthy, dirty, disgusting, crime-ridden."

The controversial question has ignited significant debate on social media.

"The answer is obvious, Swedes and Norwegians don't go to shithole countries... Thanks to Trump, in less than a year, the U.S. has become a shithole country," an internet user argued on X.

"The answer is simple and doesn't require much intelligence: Norwegians or Swedes aren't going to leave their country to go to your shithole United States!" added another.

A Supremacist View on Immigration

The words of the Republican leader align with his vision of "selective" or "merit-based" immigration, where only individuals from countries he deems "desirable" should be admitted.

“Disgusting, crime-laden places” is how he characterized many nations from which people seek a new life in the United States.

The implication is clear, calling back to another post he made on Truth Social during Thanksgiving: immigrants from poor or so-called Third World countries are not welcome.

At his rally, Trump triumphantly announced a “permanent pause on Third World migration,” including countries like “Afghanistan, Haiti, Somalia, and many others.”

This stance has faced widespread criticism from human rights organizations, international leaders, and even members of his own party in the past.

As far back as 2018, the President of Senegal expressed “surprise” at such statements, demanding respect for Africa and the Black race.

The Return of an Old Scandal

It's worth recalling that in January 2018, amid discussions on immigration reform, Trump had remarked, “Why do we have all these people from shithole countries coming here?” referring to Haiti, El Salvador, and African nations.

Simultaneously, he advocated for receiving immigrants from “countries like Norway.”

Although he denied it on social media at the time, claiming it was a “Democratic invention,” the White House did not refute the comments. In fact, then-spokesman Raj Shah defended that the president was seeking a merit-based immigration system, similar to other developed countries.

In that same meeting, according to The New York Times, Trump allegedly said that Haitians “have AIDS,” and that Nigerians wouldn't “go back to their huts” if they saw the United States. The White House denied these claims at the time.

Trump's Hostility Towards Europe

But Trump did not limit his Tuesday attacks to immigrants from the Global South. He also targeted Europe and its immigration policies.

“Europe is a group of declining countries led by weak leaders,” he declared, echoing a narrative of distrust towards the traditional allies of the United States.

He even warned that Brussels' immigration decisions “will be its end,” marking a distance from a continent once considered a strategic partner.

The Republican reiterated that what separates him from Europe is more than what unites him.

These types of declarations are not new in Trump's rhetoric.

Since his first term, the former U.S. president has been crafting an isolationist worldview, where the United States stands as a self-sufficient power, detached from multilateral commitments or historical alliances.

Foreign Policy with a "Showman" Flair

In a bid to showcase international leadership, Trump also addressed the military escalation between Thailand and Cambodia. He assured that he would personally call the leaders of both countries “to stop a war between two very powerful nations.”

“I'm sorry to say this [...] Cambodia and Thailand started (new clashes) today, and tomorrow I will have to make a phone call,” he said, drawing applause from the crowd.

“Who else can say they will make a call and stop a war?” he asked his followers rhetorically.

The conflict between Thailand and Cambodia, which reignited a historical territorial dispute, was labeled by Trump as one of the eight conflicts he “has ended” since his return to power in January.

Between Provocation and Strategy

The president’s outbursts are no accident. They are part of a communication strategy that has kept him at the center of American political debate since his debut in the 2015 presidential campaign.

His provocative style, which deliberately breaks with the norms of political decorum, has earned him both the devotion of an ultraconservative base and the condemnation of his critics.

In recent times, he has returned to using expletives in public and employing derogatory terms. During Thanksgiving, he referred to a Democratic governor with an insult offensive to people with intellectual disabilities.

When questioned by a journalist about whether he stood by his words, his response was: “Yes. I think something is wrong with him.”

Trump's new statements reignite a deep debate about institutional racism. His words not only insult millions worldwide but also reinforce dangerous stereotypes that fuel discrimination and hatred.

The notion that some countries—and therefore their citizens—are inherently better than others forms the very foundation of racial supremacy.

The recurrence of these comments, far from being a slip, confirms that they are a structural part of his political discourse.