President Trump provoked a widespread backlash this week when he posted a transcript from a right-wing podcast in which the host referred to China and India as “hell” places and said that recent immigrants from those countries had not “integrated” into the US like European Americans.
Copy, Joe Mr. Trump Posted On Wednesday night on his Truth Social account, there was a recent episode of “The Savage Nation,” hosted by Michael Savage, a popular conservative talk radio host. Mr Trump also posted the original video clip of Mr Savage’s podcast.
The president did not add any comments to his post, but across Asia and the United States, many people saw an unsolicited message that demanded a response.
In a rare public rebuke from the White House, the Indian government moved to x To criticize the comments, calling them “blatantly uninformed, inappropriate and in poor taste” without explicitly naming Mr Trump.
Asian American advocacy groups and some Democratic lawmakers blamed Mr. Trump for escalating xenophobic rhetoric at a time when the administration’s efforts to restrict even legal immigration have left many Indian Americans and Chinese Americans worried about their place in American society.
The Hindu American Foundation, a group that has been critical of both Democrats and Republicans, said, “We are deeply troubled by @POTUS sharing these disgusting, racist comments targeting Indian and Chinese Americans.” statement On X. “As the President of the United States endorsing such statements will further fuel hatred and endanger our communities, at a time when xenophobia and racism are already at their highest levels.”
The Chinese Embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Mr Trump and China’s leader Xi Jinping are due to meet for a summit in Beijing in mid-May.
The podcast excerpt, shared by Mr Trump, was recorded shortly after a Supreme Court hearing on Mr Trump’s executive order seeking to ban birthright citizenship, which confers citizenship on nearly all children born on American soil and has long been seen as a fundamental principle of American identity and law.
In the clip, Mr. Savage claimed without evidence that recent immigrants had “almost no loyalty” to America; that the country was “being fed up with Chinese people who are coming here just to drop off a child on our shores and then bring the whole family back”; And that the Indians and Chinese had set up “intra-systems” so that only people from their countries could get tech jobs in California.
“A child here becomes an instant citizen, and then they bring the whole family over to China or India or some other hellhole on the planet,” Mr. Savage said.
“They are not like today’s European Americans and their ancestors,” he said.
Mr Trump’s post comes as the Supreme Court considers the constitutionality of his executive order seeking to end birthright citizenship for babies born to undocumented people and certain temporary foreign visitors. Mr Trump has made rolling back birthright citizenship central to his campaign to expel millions of immigrants from the United States. He even participated in oral arguments at the Supreme Court, where he was disappointed that some of the conservative justices appeared skeptical of the president’s position.
Earlier on Wednesday, before the podcast transcript was posted, Mr Trump said in a different truth social post “Some” conservative Supreme Court justices “have become weak, stupid and evil.” He mentioned the birthright citizenship case, which the court could decide this summer.
On Thursday, White House spokesman Kush Desai defended Mr Trump’s transcript post, saying the president was “invoking the scandal of autocratic birthright citizenship.”
In recent years, Asians have been the fastest-growing group in the country, and people from India and China have played a large role in that growth. In 2023, Asians were about 7 percent of the national population. By some measures, immigrants from India and China and their descendants have been among the most successful groups in the United States, with high levels of education and income.
But as the Trump administration has sought to limit most immigration routes, both groups have also come under increasing scrutiny. The administration’s changes to the H-1B program, a skilled worker visa that is particularly popular among Indians, have fueled racist rhetoric targeting the Indian community across the country.
The president’s push to end birthright citizenship has also sparked greater debate over birth tourism, a term that refers to pregnant women who travel to the United States to give birth so that their child can receive American citizenship. It is commonly associated with the cottage industry of “maternity hotels” that has emerged over the past two decades and caters to wealthy families in countries such as China.
It is believed that the phenomenon of birth tourism is not widespread. In its most recent estimate in 2020, the Center for Immigration Studies, a group that supports restricting immigration, put the number at approx. 20,000 to 26,000 children One year – less than 1 percent of the number of babies born in the country. Nonetheless, birth tourism has become a frequent topic of discussion for conservatives seeking to eliminate birthright citizenship for all.
Some Democratic lawmakers also criticized Mr Trump for sharing the podcast transcript.
Representative Grace Meng, a Taiwanese American Democrat from New York and chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, said in a statement that she was “disgusted” by the post.
“At a time when incidents of hate against South Asian communities are on the rise, and one in four Americans view Chinese Americans as a threat,” he said, “exacerbating such bigotry adds fuel to an already dangerous fire and should be unequivocally condemned.”
Representative Ami Bera, an Indian American Democrat from California, described Mr Trump’s comments in a post on x “Disrespectful, ignorant and beneath the dignity of his position.”
White House spokesperson Mr. Desai is Indian American. He said the President’s relationship with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is a testament to his support for the people of India. He said, “Everyone except the failed legacy media knows that President Trump has a strong friendship with Prime Minister Modi and that he loves patriotic Indian Americans who were a key block in the historic coalition that fueled his landslide victory in the 2024 election.”
Other prominent figures of Indian or Chinese origin in the Trump administration include Justice Department Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet K. Dhillon includes; Kash Patel, FBI Director; Steven Cheung, White House communications director; and Usha Vance, wife of Vice President JD Vance.
Asked about the H-1B visa program at a Turning Point USA event in Georgia last week, Mr. Vance cited his in-laws, arguing that while naturalized citizens should prioritize American interests over those of their native country, many immigrants also bring value to America.
“Look, I’m married to the daughter of immigrants from India,” Mr. Vance said. “And I love my in-laws, and they are great people and have made great contributions to the United States.”
