Former President Trump slammed the city of Detroit as a “chaos” and called it an underdeveloped region during a speech in the Motor City on Thursday.
The former president spoke at the Detroit Economic Club and appeared to attack the host city twice.
In one instance, he was talking about China being a developing country.
“Well, we're a developing country too. Look at Detroit,” President Trump said. “Detroit is a less developed region than other parts of China.”
Trump later mocked that if Vice President Harris wins in November, the entire country could end up looking like Detroit.
“If she were president, the whole country would be like Detroit. It would be a disaster,” Trump said.
The former president's comments drew immediate backlash from state and city officials.
“Detroit is the epitome of grit, defined by winners who get their hands dirty and build their own city and create their own community, something Donald Trump will never understand. So don't talk about Detroit and believe that the people of Detroit won.'' Don't forget this in November,'' said Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat. ) posted on social platform X.
“Detroit just held the largest NFL Draft in history, the Tigers are back in the playoffs, the Lions are heading to the Super Bowl, crime is down and population is up. Many cities should be like Detroit. “And we did it all without Trump's help,'' Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan posted on X.
Detroit is Michigan's largest city and a key battleground state in the November election. The difference between Trump and Vice President Harris in the state is less than 1 percentage point, according to an average of Decision Desk headquarters and The Hill polls.
President Trump and his allies in 2020 claimed without evidence Voter fraud was rampant in Detroit, which votes heavily for Democrats. president biden won the city The former president lost Michigan in 2020 by about 155,000 votes.
Thursday is not the first time President Trump has criticized a prominent city he has visited. The former president reportedly called Milwaukee a “terrible city” in a closed-door meeting with House Republicans a month before Milwaukee hosted the Republican convention. Trump later said the only thing he was criticizing was the city's crime rate.
Updated at 4:33 p.m.
