President Donald Trump on openly confirmed that he used the phrase “s–thole countries” to describe Haiti and African nations during a 2018 Oval Office discussion on immigration — a remark he had previously disputed in public.
Speaking at a rally in Pennsylvania, Trump referenced his recent announcement of a “permanent pause on Third World migration,” listing Afghanistan, Haiti, Somalia and “many other countries.” When an audience member yelled the slur, Trump responded before recounting the earlier incident with lawmakers.
“We had a meeting and I said: ‘Why is it we only take people from s–thole countries,’ right?” Trump said. “Why can’t we have some people from Norway, Sweden?” He added: “But we always take people from Somalia. Places that are a disaster. Filthy, dirty, disgusting, ridden with crime.”
Trump: I said, why is it we only take people from shit hole countries, right? Why can’t we have some people from Norway, Sweden, Denmark… But we always take people from Somalia… places that are a filthy, dirty, disgusting pic.twitter.com/hMeIe1u7Wj
— Acyn (@Acyn) December 10, 2025
News outlets reported in 2018 that Trump made the comment behind closed doors. At the time, Trump responded publicly that “this was not the language used,” including in a post on Twitter. Some Republican senators present said they did not recall the phrasing.
That denial was challenged almost immediately by others in the meeting, including Sen. Dick Durbin, who said Trump used the term repeatedly. The controversy drew condemnation from foreign governments, including Botswana and Senegal, as AP reports.
CNN journalist Jim Acosta — who questioned Trump about the remark in the Oval Office in 2018 — noted the reversal on social media shortly after the rally. Acosta wrote that Trump had “ordered [him] ‘out’ of the Oval Office” when pressed on whether he wanted immigrants mainly from “predominantly white or Caucasian countries,” adding: “Back then he said publicly he wanted immigrants from ‘everywhere.’ That was a lie.”
At his event in PA, Trump admits he said something he tried to deny back in 2018 about “shithole countries.” I pressed him on whether he just wanted immigrants from predominantly white or Caucasian countries and he ordered me “out” of the Oval Office. Back then he said publicly… https://t.co/U1HArFIGgC
— Jim Acosta (@Acosta) December 10, 2025
Trump’s public rhetoric has since shifted to more frequent use of coarse language. He has incorporated profanity into campaign speeches and recently used a derogatory slur against Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz in posts on Thanksgiving. Asked whether he stood by that comment, Trump replied: “Yeah. I think there’s something wrong with him.”
Originally published on Latin Times
