Trump bashes Detroit while addressing wealthy supporters in Detroit

In a speech before the Detroit Economic Club, former President Donald Trump warned that a victory for Vice President Kamala Harris would transform America into Detroit — and that would be a bad thing. While his comments provoked ridicule from local lawmakers and civic leaders, they received applause from the audience of rich and largely white business figures who make up a small minority in the largely Black metropolis.

"You wanna know the truth? The whole country's gonna be like Detroit," Trump said of a Harris victory. "Our whole country will end up being like Detroit if she's your president. We're a developing nation too. Just take a look at Detroit. Detroit's a developing area, in a hell of a lot more places than China."

Trump's swipe at his host city follows an observable pattern: Just days before the 2024 Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, he called the place a "horrible city." Now as then, Trump has provoked a flurry of angry reactions from the locals.

"I represent Detroit in Congress," Rep. Shri Thanedar, D-Mich., wrote in a post on X. "Detroit is a city with a booming economy, diverse culture, and some of the best people in America. Donald Trump: keep Detroit and our people out of your mouth. We will elect Kamala Harris."

"As a proud elected representative of tens of thousands of Detroiters: F—k this guy. Don’t come back," Michigan state Senate Majority Whip Mallory McMorrow added.

Other users suggested that, by insulting Detroit, Trump had hurt himself in a key swing state. "Imagine standing in Detroit and saying 'vote for me so you don't end up like this place' lmao," transit activist Hayden Clarkin wrote.

But Trump might have struck a chord with his well-heeled audience. New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman suggested that, rather than thinking about the broader perception of his comments, the former president was "appealing to the people in that room."

"Insulting the city that you're in, especially one with a large number of Black voters, is not usually a prescription that gets made for candidates," she told CNN's Anderson Cooper. "We'll see if it matters to him. He's been saying things like this for a very long time."