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Trump Offers Vague Denial About Language on Immigrants Trump Offers Vague Denial About Language on Immigrants
(about 1 hour later)
WASHINGTON — President Trump on Friday offered a vague denial about the language he chose to use about immigrants during a private meeting with lawmakers at the White House on Thursday, when he reportedly referred to African nations as “shithole countries.”WASHINGTON — President Trump on Friday offered a vague denial about the language he chose to use about immigrants during a private meeting with lawmakers at the White House on Thursday, when he reportedly referred to African nations as “shithole countries.”
“The language used by me at the DACA meeting was tough, but this was not the language used,” Mr. Trump wrote in a Twitter post on Friday morning. His tweet did not elaborate on what “tough” language he used and did not provide a specific account of the meeting. President Trump did maintain that he never said of Haitians, “take them out.”
The White House has not denied his use of racially charged rhetoric. The Twitter post was his second about news accounts of a private meeting on Thursday at the White House.
The vague denial was the president’s fourth Twitter post on Friday morning. The meeting he discussed was about the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, the Obama-era effort that provided temporary work permits and reprieves from deportation to immigrants brought to the United States as children by their parents. In a discussion about immigration from African nations, Mr. Trump asked why he would want “all these people from shithole countries,” according to people with direct knowledge of the conversation. Mr. Trump also said the United States should admit more people from places like Norway, an overwhelmingly white country.
The president, in a discussion about African nations, asked why he would want “all these people from shithole countries,” according to people with direct knowledge of the conversation. Mr. Trump also said the United States should admit more people from places like Norway, an overwhelmingly white country. The president did not specifically deny the language that has drawn the most attention for being racially tinged. Instead, Mr. Trump denied that he said, “take them out” when he asked why the United States should accept more Haitian immigrants.
Mr. Trump’s reported remarks are the latest example of the president’s use of racially tinged language about immigrants. “Why do we need more Haitians?” Mr. Trump said, according to several news accounts, including The Washington Post. “Take them out.”
Mr. Trump’s first Twitter post Friday morning called the immigration deal that would protect undocumented immigrants who arrived in the United States as children “a big step backwards.” The White House has not denied his use of racially charged rhetoric, either.
The president’s thoughts on immigration sprawled several Twitter posts on Friday morning before he tweeted his denial about the language he used at the DACA meeting. In an earlier tweet on Friday, Mr. Trump said, “The language used by me at the DACA meeting was tough, but this was not the language used.” His tweet did not elaborate on what “tough” language he used and did not provide a specific account of the meeting.
The president’s Twitter posts on Friday morning referred to the meeting with lawmakers a day earlier about the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA, the Obama-era effort that provided temporary work permits and reprieves from deportation to immigrants brought to the United States as children by their parents.
Mr. Trump’s reported remarks are the latest example of the president’s use of racially tinged language about immigrants. In a private meeting in June of last year, Mr. Trump said immigrants from Haiti “all have AIDS.”
The president’s first Twitter post Friday morning did not address the language he used, but instead called the immigration deal that would protect undocumented immigrants who arrived in the United States as children “a big step backwards.”
The president’s thoughts on immigration sprawled through several Twitter posts on Friday morning before he tweeted his denials about some of the language he used at the DACA meeting.
The president met on Thursday with Senators Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina, and Richard J. Durbin, Democrat of Illinois. The senators are working to codify the protections in DACA.The president met on Thursday with Senators Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina, and Richard J. Durbin, Democrat of Illinois. The senators are working to codify the protections in DACA.
When Mr. Trump heard that Haitians would benefit from the immigration deal, he asked whether they could be left out of the plan and asked why the United States would want people from Haiti, according to people with direct knowledge of the conversation. In a private meeting in June of last year, Mr. Trump said immigrants from Haiti “all have AIDS.”