Donald Trump Visits Detroit to Earn Votes, but Instead Calls the City a ‘Mess’: ‘We’re a Developing Nation’

Donald Trump drew criticism for his most recent visit to Detroit after he compared the Midwestern city to a “developing nation” during a speech.

During a campaign speech before the Detroit Economic Club on Thursday, Oct 10, the former president claimed that China had “abused” its status as a “developing nation” — and added that “We’re a developing nation, too. Just take a look at Detroit.”

Trump called the city a “developing area…hell of a lot more than most places in China,” and elsewhere in the speech, he warned that the “whole country will end up being like Detroit” if Vice President Kamala Harris wins the election, adding that being like Detroit would mean “you’re going to have a mess on your hands.”

“The whole country will be like — you want to know the truth? It’ll be like Detroit. Our whole country will end up being like Detroit if she’s your president,” he told the crowd. He then claimed that Harris “destroyed” San Francisco.

“We’re not going to let her do that to this country. We’re not gonna let it happen,” he added.

The former president’s remarks quickly drew criticism from both Detroit and Michigan elected officials. Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan responded in an X post later on Thursday, writing that “Detroit just hosted the largest NFL Draft in history, the Tigers are back in the playoffs, the Lions are headed to the Super Bowl, crime is down and our population is growing.”

“And we did it all without Trump’s help,” Duggan added.

In a video posted to Instagram, Duggan continued to speak out against Trump’s remarks, and quipped that his “memory is a little fuzzy.”

“Since Donald Trump left office, the unemployment rate in Detroit is way down, the homicide rate is way down, and our population is growing for the first time since the 1950s,” Duggan said in the clip. “In fact, the best thing that happened to Detroit was when Donald Trump left office and Joe Biden and Kamala Harris came in and gave us real partners.”

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer also chimed in after Trump’s attacks on the city, writing in an X post that Trump would “never understand” Detroit.

“Detroit is the epitome of ‘grit,’ defined by winners willing to get their hands dirty to build up their city and create their communities — something Donald Trump could never understand,” she wrote. “So keep Detroit out of your mouth. And you better believe Detroiters won’t forget this in November.”

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Back in June, Trump received similar backlash after he called Milwaukee “horrible” because of its crime rate. Trump’s campaign added at the time that the reports on his comments about the largest city in Wisconsin were a “total lie,” according to a press release.

“President Trump was explicitly referring to the problems in Milwaukee, specifically violent crime and voter fraud,” they wrote.

Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson later responded to his remarks, per the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, saying, “Donald Trump was talking about things that he thinks are horrible. All of us lived through his presidency. So, right back at you, buddy.”

He continued: “Donald Trump once again is wrong about something. That shouldn’t be new news, especially for somebody who has a proven track record of lying about a number of things.”

Michigan and Wisconsin, home to two of the cities that Trump criticized on the campaign trail, are two of the critical swing states in the 2024 presidential election. Polling shows Trump within striking distance of Harris, raising the stakes for both parties as they work to earn every vote.