Former U.S. President Donald Trump has reignited controversy over his anti-immigrant rhetoric, openly repeating the inflammatory term “shithole” to describe certain countries during a rally in Pennsylvania yesterday.
Speaking to a cheering audience at an event meant to highlight economic policy, the 79-year-old Republican questioned why the United States admits immigrants from what he called “shithole countries” instead of countries like Norway and Sweden. He also singled out Somalia, calling it “a disaster. Filthy, dirty, disgusting, ridden with crime.”
Trump’s remarks follow earlier comments labeling Somali immigrants as “trash,” prompting Massachusetts Senator Ed Markey to denounce the statements as evidence of a racist, anti-immigrant agenda.
Defending Trump, Florida Republican Randy Fine said on CNN that “not all cultures are equal and not all countries are equal” and praised the president’s blunt style.
Experts warn that Trump’s rhetoric, long present on the far-right, now carries unprecedented weight coming directly from the White House. University of Albany history professor Carl Bon Tempo highlighted the amplified impact of such messaging, while Syracuse University political science professor Mark Brockway noted that Trump’s policies target immigrants indiscriminately, regardless of their legal status, businesses, or years in the U.S.
Trump’s return to power has already seen a tough deportation campaign and suspension of immigration applications from nationals of 19 of the world’s poorest countries. Meanwhile, he has directed the U.S. to admit persecuted white South African farmers, citing their plight.
Experts say this no-holds-barred approach fuels economic fears and stokes resentment, framing immigrants as “killers, leeches, and entitlement junkies,” according to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. Bon Tempo noted that debates on immigration often intertwine with broader questions of American identity and culture.
After a recent attack in Washington, Trump called for “REVERSE MIGRATION” on Truth Social, echoing European far-right theories advocating mass expulsion of foreigners deemed unassimilable.
Senior White House advisor Stephen Miller reinforced this view on social media, warning that mass migration “imports societies… that recreate the conditions, and terrors, of their broken homelands.” Experts see these comments as part of a broader nativist ideology reminiscent of 1920s U.S. politics, which prioritized white, Anglo-Saxon, Protestant cultural dominance.
