President Donald Trump sought to capitalize on record levels of support he saw from the Muslim Arab community during a Ramadan event this week.
The White House held a Ramadan iftar dinner Thursday evening, during which Trump addressed an audience that included Hamtramck Mayor Amer Ghalib and Dearborn Heights Mayor Bill Bazzi — two Muslim mayors in Michigan who sent shockwaves through the Democratic Party when they endorsed Trump ahead of the 2024 presidential election. After he won the election, Trump tapped Ghalib to be ambassador to Kuwait and Bazzi to be ambassador to Tunisia.
“Let me begin by saying to our Muslim friends, of which I have many tonight, and I think we have many all over the world based on the results in Michigan, other places,” Trump told attendees. “The Muslim community was there for us in November, and while I’m president, I will be there for you…And I think you know that, and our two great mayors [Ghalib and Bazzi] understand that.”
Trump lost Michigan, a pivotal battleground state, when he ran for president in 2020. Four years later, he won the state, due in no small part to a surge of support from Michigan’s Arab community.
The president won Dearborn with 42% support during the 2024 presidential election, a significant increase from the 30% he garnered in 2020. He also carried the neighboring Dearborn Heights, where 39% of the residents hail from the Middle East. And in the majority-Muslim city of Hamtramck, Trump received 42.7% of the vote, a staggering increase from the 13.4% he received in 2020.
Many in those communities hold to the Islamic faith, which leans more conservative on social issues. Last year, dissatisfaction with the Democratic Party’s stance on that issue, and other culture war topics, became part of the reason why they rejected the Democrats’ presidential nominee, former Vice President Kamala Harris, and instead moved toward Trump.
Trump made it a point to appeal to those voters again during the Thursday dinner.
“We’re stopping schools from indoctrinating children with transgender ideology, something which people of this room are not happy about,” Trump said at the Ramadan dinner. “I know that for a fact, and it’s a shame what’s happened, but we’re turning it around and turning it around at levels that nobody can even believe. I signed an order — and I think very importantly, also in particular for people in this room — we’re keeping men out of women’s sports.”
The president also reiterated his focus on bringing peace to the Middle East, an issue that was key to galvanizing support for himself in Michigan last November. Many Arab residents in Hamtramck, Dearborn Heights, and elsewhere in Michigan are immigrants hailing from areas such as Yemen and have relatives who have died in the war in Gaza. They came into Trump’s fold based on his call to end the war that had killed their family members after becoming disillusioned with the Harris campaign over its stance on the conflict.
“When I was in Michigan, I met with so many leaders of faith, and I said, ‘What about your attitude here?’ … They said, ‘Sir, all we want is peace.’ Right, remember Mr. Mayor [Ghalib]? I said, ‘but I understand you don’t mind death.’ They said, ‘No, sir, we want to live. We want to live and we want to be happy. We want to love everybody.’ … It was a very inspirational period of time for me, and I want to thank you also for introducing me to so many of your friends. It was absolutely incredible.”
In the days after he won the election, Trump dispatched Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, to Israel to convince all parties involved in the war in Gaza to reach a ceasefire deal by the time he took office on Jan. 20.
When Israel announced a ceasefire agreement on Jan. 17, Trump credited his efforts in making the deal happen. That view was challenged by some Biden administration officials, while others concurred.
During an appearance on the Tucker Carlson Show earlier this month, Witkoff said the deal was sealed “because they [the Israelis, Hamas, Qatar] didn’t want to defy him [Trump].”
“He’s a bad guy to defy. It was the President’s overarching personality. And letting everybody know that success was not an option. It had to be; it was a mandate. And that’s how we got to that place,” of securing the ceasefire, Witkoff said.
Subsequent moves by the Trump administration in the Middle East have drawn some criticism from Michigan’s Arab community, particularly after the U.S. hit Houthi terrorists in Yemen during a series of airstrikes.
“The Houthis are not getting targeted as much as the civilians in Yemen,” Akil Al-halemi, who was born in Yemen and lives in Hamtramck, told a local news outlet. “We are the victims of both sides, whether here or there.”
GAZA COMES BACK TO BITE HARRIS AS DEARBORN HELPS TIP MICHIGAN IN TRUMP’S FAVOR
However, during his speech Thursday evening, Trump continued to woo the community to his side.
“To our Muslim friends. I look forward to working with each of you to achieve a brighter and more hopeful future, and I think together, we’re going to do great. You’re going to make strides like you’ve never made. You have somebody in the White House that loves you,” he said.
