Amer Ghalib, President Donald Trump's newly appointed adviser on Arab-American affairs, says the president has promised not to repeat remarks in which he called several countries "shithouse countries". The comments came at a Saturday rally in Perry, Georgia, held to build support for Republican candidates before the 3 November midterm elections.
"Libya, Yemen, Haiti, Somalia. Remember what I called them? Shithouse countries," Trump told the crowd, adding that the nations were "terror-infested". He asked why the US must "always" accept people from such places, and suggested taking people from Norway, Sweden or Denmark instead.
Ghalib, who was born in Yemen, wrote on Facebook on Sunday that he had texted the president to express his "dismay and rejection" of the remarks. He later met Trump before a rally in Port Huron, Michigan, and repeated his request. According to Ghalib, the president "expressed understanding of the situation and pledged to address the issue and ensure it does not recur." The post was written only in Arabic, although Ghalib usually adds an English translation.
At the Michigan rally, Trump did not target Arab and Muslim countries but did attack Abdul El-Sayed, the rising Democratic Senate candidate in the state. "I'm here to keep a jihadist Muslim Brotherhood member from becoming a United States senator," Trump said, claiming El-Sayed wants Sharia law. No links between El-Sayed and the Muslim Brotherhood are known. Trump designated three of the group's offshoots as terror organisations last year.
Bishara Bahbah, a Palestinian American former Harvard academic who founded Arab Americans for Trump in 2024, told Middle East Eye on Monday that the language reflected desperation. He said it differed sharply from the Trump of 2024, who was careful not to offend and thanked Arab and Muslim voters. Bahbah, who served as a backchannel between US negotiators and Hamas before the 10 October 2025 Gaza ceasefire deal, said the White House has rebuffed him in recent weeks. He said the remarks "cross a red line" and noted that Trump had earlier agreed not to use "Palestinian" as a slur against Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer, then did so again.
Jenin Younes, president and legal director of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, called the rhetoric at Trump's rallies "tired, dangerous, and designed to distract from the realities facing everyday Americans."
The political backdrop is difficult for the president. Analysts predict a possible Democratic wave, and his approval rating this month has ranged from 34 to 40 percent, driven by high fuel prices and the impact of mass arrests and deportations of immigrants. A Democratic win could hinder his agenda for his final two years and possibly lead to the impeachment of Secretary of War Pete Hegseth over the handling of the war on Iran.
Omar Shajrah, a former legal counsel to the Michigan House who typically votes Republican, said conservative Arab and Muslim voters, including many in the Yemeni community, took a risk backing Trump in 2024 and now feel hurt. He said he will not support Trump-endorsed Republican Mike Rogers this time, though he did not vote for El-Sayed in early voting. He called El-Sayed "a great political athlete."
Also on Saturday, former President Barack Obama joined El-Sayed at a rally in Detroit. Referring to the birther claims Trump promoted in 2011, Obama said: "We have seen this movie before. I starred in it." He added that the tactic would not work on El-Sayed either, and praised the prospect of a Senate pairing of El-Sayed and Democratic Senator Elissa Slotkin, a Muslim man and a Jewish woman representing Michigan.