Trump denigrates Detroit while appealing for votes in a suburb of Michigan's largest city

NOVI, Mich. — Donald Trump further denigrated Detroit while appealing for votes Saturday in a suburb of the largest city in swing state Michigan.

“I think Detroit and some of our areas makes us a developing nation,” the former president told supporters in Novi. He said people want him to say Detroit is “great,” but he thinks it “needs help.”

The Republican nominee for the White House had told an economic group in Detroit earlier this month that the “whole country will end up being like Detroit” if Democrat Kamala Harris wins the presidency. That comment drew harsh criticism from Democrats who praised the city for its recent drop in crime and growing population.

Trump's stop in Novi, after an event Friday night in Traverse City, is a sign of Michigan's importance in the tight race. Harris is scheduled for a rally in Kalamazoo later Saturday with former first lady Michelle Obama on the first day that early in-person voting becomes available across Michigan. More than 1.4 million ballots have already been submitted, representing 20% of registered voters. Trump won the state in 2016, but Democrat Joe Biden carried it four years later.

Michigan is home to major car companies and the nation’s largest concentration of members of the United Auto Workers. It also has a significant Arab American population, and many have been frustrated by the Biden administration’s support for Israel’s offensive in Gaza after the attack by Hamas against Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.

During his rally, Trump spotlighted local Muslim and Arab American leaders who joined him on stage. These voters “could turn the election one way or the other,” Trump said, adding that he was banking on ”overwhelming support” from those voters in Michigan.

"When President Trump was president, it was peace,” said one of those leaders, Mayor Bill Bazzi of Dearborn Heights. “We didn’t have any issues. There was no wars.”

While Trump is trying to capitalize on the community's frustration with the Democratic administration, he has a history of policies hostile to this group, including a travel ban targeting Muslim countries while in office and a pledge to expand it to include refugees from Gaza if he wins on Nov. 5.

A Trump ally, Republican Rep. Darrell Issa of California, the grandson of Lebanese immigrants, told reporters that Trump was winning over support from more Arab Americans and has cultivated relationships with leaders in the Middle East that would bring more stability to the region.

In lengthy remarks to supporters, Trump went after Harris and the media with familiar barbs and promoted immigration and energy policies that are campaign staples. For example, he said immigrants are “taking the Black population jobs and they’re taking the Hispanic jobs.” Government data contradicts this claim, showing that immigrant labor contributes to economic growth and provides promotional opportunities for native-born workers.

Trump was heading next to a rally in State College, Pennsylvania.