President Trump called Haiti and Africa “shitholes” during an immigration meeting with lawmakers Thursday, according to a new report.
“Why are we having all these people from shithole countries come here?” the president said, according to the Washington Post, which cites “two people briefed on the meeting.”
Politicians at the bipartisan Oval Office pow-wow were left flabbergasted by the remark, according to the paper.
Trump was pushing back against a suggestion that the US restore protections for immigrants from Haiti, El Salvador and African countries — and instead said America should be bringing in more people from countries like Norway, the Washington Post reports.
The White House didn’t deny that Trump made the remark in a response, instead issuing a statement saying that, “President Trump is fighting for permanent solutions that make our country stronger by welcoming those who can contribute to our society, grow our economy and assimilate into our great nation.”
Trump reportedly told a previous Oval Office meeting that Haitians “all have AIDS” and that Nigerian immigrants would never “go back to their huts” if allowed into the US — although the White House strenuously denied that report.