He said it four times in seven seconds: Somali immigrants in the United States are "garbage." It was no mistake. In fact, President Donald Trump's rhetorical attacks on immigrants have been building since he said Mexico was sending "rapists" across the border during his presidential campaign announcement a decade ago. He's also echoed rhetoric once used by Adolf Hitler and called the 54 nations of Africa "s--hole countries." But with one flourish closing a two-hour Cabinet meeting Tuesday, Trump amped up his anti-immigrant rhetoric even further and ditched any claim that his administration was only seeking to remove people in the U.S. illegally.
President Donald Trump said on Sunday he would "absolutely" denaturalize certain Americans, revoking the citizenship of some "criminals," if he had the power to do so. "We have criminals that came into our country and they were naturalized maybe through [President Joe] Biden or somebody that didn't know what they were doing," Trump said on Sunday in answer to a reporter's question. He added, "If I have the power to do it -- I'm not sure that I do, but if I do -- I would denaturalize, absolutely."