Detroit locals push back after Trump calls the city ‘third world’
Donald Trump has drawn the ire of locals in one of America’s biggest cities after he described it as “third world”.
Trump railed against the city of Detroit in a Truth Social post as part of a series of screeds against Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed.
President Donald Trump dances after speaking at an event at the Red Rock Casino Resort and Spa in Las Vegas, Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein) AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein
“Wayne County (Detroit) in Michigan is one of the most corrupt voting areas in the United States, if not the World,” Trump wrote.
“It is strictly Third World!
“Miracles happen in Wayne County, including more votes being cast than there are voters, by a lot.”
Trump’s claims of more votes than voters in Wayne County is untrue.
“The Radical Left Socialist has a real shot, and don’t discount all of those fake mail-in ballots that will ‘surprisingly’ show up at the last moment.
“Get ready for another Rigged Election.”
Trump’s attack on Detroit drew a lengthy reply from famed Detroit musician Jack White.
Jack White in concert at the Hordern Pavilion in Sydney in 2012. Photographic
“Here’s a tip when attempting to listen to the orange führer; when he says the phrase ‘by a lot’ it’s a dead giveaway that he’s lying,” White wrote on Instagram.
“Oh, he did get one thing right though, I’m from Wayne County, Michigan and miracles do happen there, just not the kind he thinks.
“Imagine living there and supporting this clown after he insults you like that.”
The former lead singer of the White Stripes, White is well-known for his Detroit roots.
Trump has been repeatedly taking aim at El-Sayed, a progressive outsider who won Michigan’s primary election on Tuesday.
El-Sayed built his campaign around universal health care, taking on Washington corruption and his opposition to sending money to Israel.
Trump labelled El-Sayed “a Communist loser who hates Jews and Israel”.
Abdul El-Sayed is the Democratic candidate for Senate in Michigan. AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson
Trump has posted about El-Sayed five times in little more than 24 hours.
El-Sayed’s victory in the primary was a serious blow to establishment Democrats.
The progressive populist weathered tens of millions of dollars of attack ads from backers of Congresswoman Haley Stevens, a more moderate choice.
Contrary to Trump’s accusations about Detroit in relation to El-Sayed, the city was one of his weakest areas in the primary election. While El-Sayed eked out a win statewide, Stevens won the city of Detroit comfortably.
Democratic pundits are fretting that El-Sayed’s left-wing ideology will cost them in Michigan, a state that has oscillated between Democrats and Republicans in recent presidential races.
Aerial view of downtown Detroit at sunset in Michigan, USA nna\sswain
Polling has shown El-Sayed in a close race or trailing Republican Mike Rogers in the race.
But much of that same polling showed a far different result in the primary election than the actual results this week.
“There are people like JD Vance or Donald Trump or Mike Rogers who want to define America as being too small to include some kinds of people, and they point to my name, they point to my faith, they try to insinuate that somehow I’m less American because of those things,” El-Sayed said on Thursday.
“They want America to be small. I believe America is big.”
Born in the Detroit suburbs to Egyptian parents, El-Sayed would be the first Muslim senator in US history.
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