What he called them · First term · № 70
Said of people being deported 'These aren't people. These are animals' at a sanctuary-policy roundtable
“We have people coming into the country, or trying to come in -- and we're stopping a lot of them -- but we're taking people out of the country. You wouldn't believe how bad these people are. These aren't people. These are animals.”
- Said
- , White House roundtable on California sanctuary policies
- Subject
- Deported immigrants / MS-13 gang members
- Target
- Immigrants
- Topic
- Immigration
- Era
- First term
What happened
Trump was answering Fresno County Sheriff Margaret Mims, who had mentioned MS-13. Speaker Nancy Pelosi and others said he had called undocumented immigrants 'animals.' The next day he said he meant MS-13. FactCheck.org noted that his remark itself did not name the gang. He had called MS-13 members 'animals' many times since 2017. In 2024 he regularly told crowds that Pelosi had said not to call them animals and that 'they're not human beings' (e.g. Detroit, June 15, 2024).