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US President Donald Trump on Saturday (local time) targeted Democratic Senator Jon Ossoff over his support for a bill seeking temporary protected status for Haiti, reviving his controversial "shithouse countries" remarks and citing Libya, Yemen, Haiti and Somalia.
Addressing a campaign rally in Perry, Georgia, for Republican candidates, he said, "And John Ossoff personally sponsored a bill to bring armies of migrants from terror-infested countries like Libya, Yemen, Haiti, Somalia. Remember? Remember what I called them? Shithouse countries," Trump said. Remember the heat I took? Remember the heat I took from the Democrats? he added, recalling a meeting with Democratic senators on immigration policy. Trump alleged that 98 per cent of Somalis living in the US did not work and claimed that they benefited from theft. You know, 98 per cent of the people that we have here now in Somalia don't work, and they don't even have to work because they steal so much, they all have a Mercedes-Benz, he said. Can you believe? Low IQ, and they live better than you do. It's I don't know what's going on. Maybe they're not as Maybe they're not as low as we think, Trump added. Recalling his exchange with Democratic senators, Trump said, And I said, Why do we always have to take people from shithouse countries? Why can't we take people from like, well, Norway? Yeah. Sweden? Uh, why not Denmark? The bill referenced by Trump, 'S. 4814: A bill to require the Secretary of Homeland Security to designate Haiti for temporary protected status', was introduced in the US Senate on June 17 by Senator Ed Markey and other Democratic lawmakers. The legislation sought to require the Secretary of Homeland Security to designate Haiti for temporary protected status until three months after January 20, 2029. Ossoff supported the bill by signing on as a co-sponsor. Trump's remarks revive a controversy dating back to January 2018, when reports emerged that he had referred to some African countries and Haiti as "shithole countries" during a closed-door meeting with senators discussing immigration policy. According to a CNN report published in December 2025, Trump explicitly acknowledged using the phrase during a speech in Pennsylvania, nearly eight years after the controversy first erupted. He recalled asking why the US accepted immigrants from countries he considered undesirable, saying, Why is it we only take people from shithole countries, right? Why cant we have some people from Norway, Sweden - just a few - let us have a few. From Denmark do you mind sending us a few people? The CNN report noted that Trump's account matched earlier media reports about the January 2018 meeting. One source briefed on the meeting told CNN that when Senator Dick Durbin mentioned Haiti, Trump questioned why the US wanted people from Haiti and more African countries, suggesting that it should instead accept more people from Norway. During the 2018 controversy, Durbin publicly confirmed Trump's use of the phrase, while Trump denied Durbin's account. Republican Senator David Perdue, who attended the meeting, said he did not recall Trump using the language. Then-Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen also said she did not recall the specific phrase. Durbin later said on the Senate floor that Trump's acknowledgement had vindicated his account of the meeting, stating, "Because for six years, I have lived with the shadow of people saying that I misled the American people as to what the president said. Yesterday he admitted what he said, "according to CNN. Trump's latest remarks bring renewed attention to the controversy as he campaigns for Republican candidates ahead of the US midterm elections in November. (ANI)
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