Trump's 'shithole countries' remark resurfaces
Archived — this story has rotated out of today’s deck. It is kept here in full.
The gist
US president Trump said Rep. Ilhan Omar came from Somalia, "a real shithouse."
The remark revives a 2018 controversy he once denied and later admitted.
Background
Donald Trump is the US president; Ilhan Omar is a Minnesota Democratic congresswoman, a naturalized US citizen born in Somalia and in Congress since 2019. In 2018 Trump faced international condemnation over reported remarks calling certain African nations and Haiti "shithole countries," which he denied during his first presidency but admitted in 2025. Trump has repeatedly disparaged Somali immigrants and Omar, suggesting she should lose her congressional seat and citizenship.
How it unfolded
- 2018Trump faced international condemnation over reported remarks describing certain African nations and Haiti as "shithole countries."
- 2025Trump admitted he had used the description "shithole countries" for majority Black nations.
- Oct 20, 2026Speaking at the White House, Trump said Omar "comes from a country that is essentially not even a country, Somalia. It's a real shithouse."
- Oct 21, 2026Commentator Mehdi Hasan posted on X that the president called an African country a "shit house" on camera.
- Oct 23, 2026An ABC27/AP report said Trump, in a long diatribe against Omar, said she came to the US from "a shithouse country."
Who’s saying what
- Official
- Trump said Omar "comes from a country that is essentially not even a country, Somalia. It's a real shithouse," and questioned her understanding of constitutional rights.
- Caution
- Commentator Mehdi Hasan said on X that the president called an African country a "shit house" on camera and that "We have normalized his Neo-Nazism now."
Still unverified
The 2018 "shithole countries" remarks are described in sources as "reported"; Trump during his first presidency denied using the phrase, as some former aides described.