MaddowBlog-Abandoning all subtlety, Trump calls Somalis 'garbage' as part of a racist rant [View all]

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Last edited Wed Dec 3, 2025, 06:25 PM - Edit history (1)

“Their country stinks, and we don’t want them in our country,” the president said during an ugly tirade at a White House Cabinet meeting.

Around this time eight years ago, Trump referred to Haiti and African nations as “shithole countries” behind closed doors, sparking a controversy.

Yesterday, he called Somali immigrants “garbage” from a country that “stinks” — but this time, he did it on camera, taking pride in his racism.

— Steve Benen (@stevebenen.com) 2025-12-03T20:19:45.250Z

https://www.ms.now/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/abandoning-all-subtlety-trump-calls-somalis-garbage-as-part-of-a-racist-rant

Five days later, he went considerably further down the same ugly path. The New York Times reported:

President Trump unleashed a xenophobic tirade against Somali immigrants on Tuesday, calling them ‘garbage’ he does not want in the United States in an outburst that captured the raw nativism that has animated his approach to immigration. Even for Mr. Trump — who has a long history of insulting Black people, particularly those from African countries — his outburst was shocking in its unapologetic bigotry.

During much of the White House Cabinet meeting, the president seemed to struggle to remain awake, but given an opportunity to launch into an ugly tirade about Black immigrants, he perked right up.

Trump: “Our country is at a tipping point…We could go one way or the other, and we're gonna go the wrong way if we keep taking in garbage into our country. Ilhan Omar is garbage…When they come from hell, they complain and do nothing but bitch. We don't want them in our country."

— The Bulwark (@thebulwark.com) 2025-12-02T19:20:00.344Z

....Around this time eight years ago, Trump referred to Haiti and African nations as “shithole countries” during a meeting with a bipartisan group of senators at the White House, sparking an immediate controversy. At the time, however, the incident occurred behind closed doors, and the comments were not recorded.

Eight years later, the Republican is still using similarly racist rhetoric, but he’s doing it in public.

Just as importantly, this isn’t merely about offensive comments. On the contrary, the administration is acting on this rhetoric: The Associated Press reported that federal authorities are preparing “a targeted immigration enforcement operation” in Minnesota that would primarily focus on Somali immigrants.