Trump last night made an announcement that could set the tone for the rest of his presidency, as he ramps up his purge of foreign-born people in the US
In the dead of last night Donald Trump made an announcement that could set the tone for the rest of his presidency. In the wake of the murder of one, and grave injury of a second National Guard troop patrolling the streets of Downtown Washington DC on his orders, Trump is ramping up his purge of foreign born people in the United States. In a statement on Truth Social last night, he said his ban-hammer would no longer be confined to people who entered the country illegally. Nor will it only be for people who share the Afghan background of the alleged shooter, nor just people who came in under the refugee programme from that country. No, he’s repeatedly taken aim at the Somali community in Minnesota, almost all of whom are legal residents – and many of whom are citizens. Why? Because they’re from – and I’m using his words here – a “third world country”. He confirmed neither a green card nor citizenship would be an exemption from his purge. And he said those who should be worried are people who “undermine domestic tranquility”, who are “a public charge, security risk, or non-compatible with Western Civilisation.” Which sounds awfully broad and open to some pretty bad-faith interpretation. Pretty racist too, if we’re counting.
Meanwhile in Trumpworld
- Trump attacks migrants – including legal ones
- He threatens to denaturalise US citizens so he can deport them
- He made a chilling threat to a particular group of people
- He lashed out at another female reporter
- And he kind of admitted he’d been lying for years about immigration
Here’s everything you need to know
1. Trump announces even legal migrants will be deported
Donald Trump announced a huge ramp-up in his plan for mass deportations of even legal migrants to the US in response to the Washington DC shooting. The attack, which left one National Guard troop dead and another fighting for his life, was allegedly committed by Rahmanullah Lakanwal, an Afghan national allowed into the US following the fall of Kabul in 2021. But in a late-night flurry of posts on Truth Social, he confirmed his response would not be restricted to those he held responsible for the shooting – but to any migrant community he feels is “undermining” America. “Only REVERSE MIGRATION can fully cure this situation,” he wrote. “Other than that HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO ALL, except those that hate, steal, murder and destroy everything that America stands for – you won’t be here for long!” Using the outdated term “third world countries”, the US President announced a “pause” on migration from certain parts of the world – during which the US would seek to remove anyone who is not a “net asset to the United States, or is incapable of loving our Country.”
2. Green card holders and even citizens won’t be exempt from the purge
Using the outdated term “third world countries”, the US President announced a “pause” on migration from certain parts of the world – during which the US would seek to remove anyone who is not a “net asset to the United States, or is incapable of loving our Country.”
He said all federal benefits to non-citizens would be scrapped, and that even citizens could have their status revoked if they “undermine domestic tranquility.” He went on to say his plan for mass deportations would be expanded to include “any Foreign National who is a public charge, security risk, or non-compatible with Western Civilization.”
Trump confirmed specifically that those who hold “green card” permanent residency status would not be exempt from the purge.
3. Trump’s random attacks on Somali people ramped up too
Every time Trump has addressed the shootings since Wednesday afternoon, Trump has started out by blaming the Afghan community, before quickly swerving to attack Somali people in Minnesota.
In his Truth Social screed last night he said Minnesota governor Tim Walz – who was Kamala Harris’ running mate in 2024 – was “seriously retarded” for allowing a Somalian community to “completely take over his state. This is untrue. Around 80,000 Somali people live in Minnesota, out of a population of 5.7 million people – making them less than 1.5% of the total. Even in the large ‘Twin Cities’ area of Minneapolis, St Paul and Bloomington, where the vast majority of Somali Minnesotans live, they make up just 1.7% of the population.
He launched a horrific, racist attack on Ilhan Omar, a sitting member of Congress from Minnesota with a Somali background, saying she was “always wrapped in her swaddling hijab, and who probably came into the USA illegally in that you are not allowed to marry your brother, does nothing but hatefully complain about our Country, its Constitution, and how “badly” she is treated, when her place of origin is a decadent, backward, and crime ridden nation, which is essentially not even a country.”
Ms Omar came to the US with her family, who legally claimed asylum in 1995, when she was 14. She became a US citizen in 2000, when she was 17. She was not married when she was granted citizenship.
4. Then he admitted Somali people had nothing to do with the shooting
Trump gave a Q&A after speaking by video link to serving troops last night. He was asked what Somali people had to do with the shooting. He admitted: “Nothing.”
But he went on: “Somalians have caused a lot of trouble, they’re ripping us off for a lot of money, there’s a tremendous amount of money going back to Somalia. What the hell are we paying money to Somalia for? But they’re ripping off our country at a level that few people have been able to see before.”
He then repeated some of his attacks on Ms Omar.
5. He used the slain troop’s funeral as an excuse to boast about his election victory
Because it’s basically breathing at this point. Asked if he was going to attend the funeral of murdered National Guard troop Sarah Beckstrom, Trump replied: “I haven’t thought about it yet, but it’s certainly something I can conceive of. I love West Virginia. You know, I won West Virginia by one of the biggest margins of any president anywhere.”
6. He lashed out at a female reporter who questioned his nonsense
Trump, as we know, does not like to be bothered with reality and facts. So when a reporter noted that Homeland Security officials had confirmed the alleged DC shooter had worked “very closely with the CIA for years”, was vetted and came up clean – he did not enjoy that. He replied: “He went cuckoo. He went nuts. And that happens too. It happens too often with these people. You see them. But, er, look. This is how they came in.” He raised up a printed out photo of a full planeload of Afghans – many of them interpreters and fixers for US troops stationed in Afghanistan – being rescued from the Taliban. He continued: “This is how they come in. They’re standing on top of each other. That’s an airplane. There was no vetting. They came in un-vetted. We have a lot of others in this country but we’re going to get them out. They go cookoo.” In fact, the refugees were not standing on top of each other. The 640 or so people on the US Air Force C17 aircraft pictured were seated on the floor of the aircraft using a procedure known as “floor loading”, where cargo straps are run from wall to wall in the plane’s hold for passengers to hang on to as makeshift seatbelts.
Trump liked it even less when she pointed out that the Department of Justice’s Inspector General just reported that there was “thorough vetting of Afghans who were brought into the US.”
“Are you stupid?” He barked at the diligent reporter. “Are you a stupid person? Because they came in on a plane along with thousands of other people that shouldn’t be here and you’re just asking questions because you’re a stupid person. And there’s a law passed that makes it almost impossible to get them out. You can’t get them out once they come in. And they came in, and they were unvetted. They were unchecked. There were many of them, and they came in on big planes and it was disgraceful.”
Every element of that answer is untrue, with one exception: They were indeed big planes.
7. He swerved a question on who granted the shooter asylum, then walked off
At the same event, Trump was asked to confirm that it was his administration that granted the alleged shooter asylum. Trump replied: “When it comes to asylum, when they’re flown in, it’s very hard to get them out. No matter how you want to do it it’s very hard to get them out. But we’re going to be getting them all out now.”
With that, he thumped the table, presumably in celebration of not actually admitting that yes, it was his administration that vetted and granted the alleged shooter asylum seven months ago, and wrapped up the session.
8. Trump kind of admitted he’s been lying for years about illegal immigration
Since the campaign, Trump has made an increasingly preposterous claim about the number of illegal migrants who were allowed into the US during Joe Biden’s presidency.
The number varies from time to time, but the most common version is that “20 million” people entered the US illegally over the four years Biden was president. Trump repeats this at least once a week, and it’s always been nonsense.
He said: “The official United States Foreign population stands at 53 million people (Census)” This is pretty close to true. The actual figure from the Census bureau is 51.3 millon, which is up from 45.2 million when Trump was last in office. That figure counts foreign born citizens and non-citizens – which would also include any surveyed undocumented people. So if the total foreign born population went up by 6.1 million, despite 20 million coming in illegally, then 13.9 million would have had to leave during the same time period. 13 million people is about one in 24 of the US population. That’s the kind of population turnover that gets noticed.