Nearly eight years later, Trump confirms he used controversial phrase during 2018 immigration meeting

Former President Trump has confirmed, nearly eight years after the fact, that he used the controversial phrase that ignited an international backlash during a 2018 closed-door immigration meeting with senators.

At the time, media outlets, including CNN, reported that Trump had questioned why the United States should accept immigrants from what he called “shithole countries,” referencing nations in Africa and Haiti. While the White House did not deny the phrasing, Trump issued statements that appeared to cast doubt on whether he had used those exact words.

Speaking Tuesday during a speech in Pennsylvania, the former president revisited the topic after a member of the audience shouted out the phrase. Initially deflecting, he then went on to describe the same remarks previously reported from the 2018 meeting, repeating the term and recounting his argument that the U.S. should seek more immigrants from Scandinavian countries instead.

Trump did not specify which meeting he was describing, but the details closely match accounts from lawmakers and reporting from January 2018. At the time, Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin publicly stated that Trump had repeatedly used the phrase, while some Republicans present offered conflicting recollections, saying they did not recall the wording or that reports were inaccurate.

The 2018 meeting became a flashpoint in the broader debate over immigration policy, drawing condemnation from world leaders and civil rights organizations. Trump’s new comments mark the first time he has explicitly acknowledged using the phrase, after years of ambiguity surrounding his earlier statements.

Credit: CNN Newsource

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