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What did Trump say? Explaining the former president's favorite talking points
Former President Donald Trump has long made headlines with controversial comments about everything from immigration to trade, but translating those talking points isn’t always easy.
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Jackie Lay/NPR
Former President Donald Trump has long made headlines with controversial comments about everything from immigration to trade, but translating those talking points isn’t always easy.
Jackie Lay/NPR
Former President Donald Trump has a history of using provocative language to draw headlines, stir up support and attack enemies.
His words, at times, have been his greatest weapons but also his biggest vulnerability.
In recent weeks, he has described Nov. 5, Election Day, as “liberation day” for “hardworking Americans” and “judgment day” for his political enemies. He has called undocumented immigrants who commit crimes “not people” and has claimed Jews who vote for Democrats hate Israel.
It’s not easy trying to make sense of what often appears to be indiscriminate attacks on migrants and political enemies, but Trump knows how to generate headlines, excite his base and provoke the left simultaneously.
He has described political correctness as a cancer that prevents honest discussion. He says that people are too easily offended and that the country doesn’t have time to worry so much about others’ feelings.
His language is also a political weapon — and a very effective one — to use against his enemies. It’s a tool that stokes his base and baits one of his favorite foils, the media.
NPR examined Trump’s campaign speeches, interviews and social media posts since he held his first rally last year in March, as well as additional relevant comments in recent years, to provide context to how his language reflects his political agenda. Here are a few of his most common talking points:
The U.S.-Mexico border
Nowhere has the former president pushed the boundaries of appropriate language more than on the issue of immigration and the U.S.-Mexico border.
He has described migrants as poisoning the blood of the country and calling those who commit crimes “animals.”
This demonization of migrants is not new. It has been a pillar of his political career ever since he announced his presidential campaign in 2015 and called Mexican immigrants rapists, bringing drugs and crime, while also saying that some are “good people.”
The border has now become one of the fieriest political issues ahead of the November elections as both sides, Democrats and Republicans, have been pointing fingers at the other to cast blame for a myriad of problems.
It’s a clear vulnerability for President Biden and the Democrats.
Biden has struggled with historic numbers of people coming across the border. It’s not just Republicans who are concerned. An increasing number of Democratic mayors and governors have raised real concerns about the drain of state and local resources in cities hundreds of miles from the border.
In a recent NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll, only 29% of respondents said they approve of how Biden is handling immigration. Republicans win the issue over Democrats by 12 percentage points when asked which party handles it better.
Critics say Trump is capitalizing on those concerns by playing up anti-immigrant sentiments.
While there is little evidence that undocumented immigrants commit more crimes than U.S.-born citizens, Trump and his supporters use anecdotal stories, such as the killing of 22-year-old nursing student Laken Riley, to paint an ominous picture about America being overrun by violent migrants.
During speeches in Michigan and Wisconsin, Trump accused Biden of creating a “border bloodbath.”
“This is country-changing, it’s country-threatening, and it’s country-wrecking,” Trump said in Michigan. “They have wrecked our country.”
What Trump has said:
“They’re poisoning the blood of our country. That’s what they’ve done. They poison — mental institutions and prisons all over the world. Not just in South America. Not just the three or four countries that we think about. But all over the world they’re coming into our country — from Africa, from Asia, all over the world. They’re pouring into our country.” —Dec. 16, 2023, New Hampshire rally
“They’re rough people, in many cases from jails, prisons, from mental institutions, insane asylums. You know, insane asylums — that’s Silence of the Lambs stuff.” —March 4, 2024, interview with Right Side Broadcasting Network
“Hannibal Lecter, anybody know Hannibal Lecter? We don’t want ’em in this country.” —March 4, 2024, interview with Right Side Broadcasting Network
A second Trump term
Former President Donald Trump, the Republican presidential candidate, salutes at a campaign rally on March 16 in Vandalia, Ohio.
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Former President Donald Trump, the Republican presidential candidate, salutes at a campaign rally on March 16 in Vandalia, Ohio.
Jeff Dean/AP
Trump has been accused of using autocratic language in this campaign that echoes rhetoric of strongman leaders of the past.
Rather than rejecting those comparisons, Trump has been wielding them as a means to stoke his base, stir up media attention and, in some ways, win back former supporters.
One example is when he sparked the anger and indignation of his many critics after declaring he wouldn’t be a dictator, “except for Day 1,” said Chris Stirewalt, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.
He says you could see a flash in Trump’s eyes when Fox News host Sean Hannity provided Trump an opportunity to assure voters he wouldn’t abuse his power.
“He realizes he’s got a live one on the line, right?” explained Stirewalt, who is also the political editor for NewsNation. “He has the moment where he knows that the person who he’s talking to wants him to say the right thing. And he knows that the advantage comes in saying the wrong thing.”
Trump responded “only on Day 1,” so that he could close the border and start drilling.
“After that, I’m not a dictator, OK?” Trump quipped to Hannity as the crowd in Iowa applauded.
Those fiery remarks set off a chain reaction of events and coverage. The media dissected the language, often repeating the dictator-for-a-day comments, and Trump’s supporters came out in mass, largely on conservative outlets, attacking the media for, they argued, taking the comments out of context.
Stirewalt says Trump also triggered what he called “the anti-anti-Trump immune response,” which means Trump reengaged former supporters, who may have felt he went too far on Jan. 6, 2021, and/or objected to his authoritarian tendencies, to come to his defense.
“What you get is the volleying back and forth between platoons on the left and the right,” Stirewalt said. “Some of it’s sincere — some of it’s rage, content for clicks and attention. And by the time you’re done, you have strength. Trump has managed to both inflame and distract his opponents, but also to further consolidate Republican support.”
What Trump has said:
“This guy turned out to be a Woke train wreck who, if the Fake News reporting is correct, was actually dealing with China to give them a heads up on the thinking of the President of the United States. This is an act so egregious that, in times gone by, the punishment would have been DEATH!” —Sept. 22, 2023, Truth Social, referring to Gen. Mark Milley, the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
“Your victory will be our ultimate vindication, your liberty will be our ultimate reward, and the unprecedented success of the United States of America will be my ultimate and absolute revenge.” —Feb. 24, 2024, Trump’s speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference
“We’re going to put a 100% tariff on every single car that comes across the line, and you’re not going to be able to sell those guys if I get elected. Now, if I don’t get elected, it’s going to be a blood bath for the whole — that’s gonna be the least of it. It’s going to be a blood bath for the country. That’ll be the least of it.” —March 16, 2024, Dayton, Ohio
Reshaping the federal government
During a speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference, Trump described himself as a “proud political dissident” and promised “judgment day” for political opponents.
He has vowed to “root out” political opponents whom he has described as “vermin,” echoing the language of authoritarian leaders who rose to power in Germany and Italy in the 1930s.
“The threat from outside forces is far less sinister, dangerous and grave than the threat from within,” Trump said during a Veterans Day rally in New Hampshire.
The former president faces four different criminal trials related to allegations of interference in the 2020 election, fraud stemming from a hush money payment to an adult film star and mishandling of classified documents.
He has repeatedly claimed the prosecutions are a political witch hunt, and he has cast himself as a martyr who is being targeted by Democrats.
George Lakoff, a professor emeritus of linguistics at the University of California, Berkeley, says Trump often uses salesman tricks to frame a debate on his own terms. He knows how to use repetition to strengthen association.
He repeats phrases over and over on the campaign trail and on social media, such as fake news or that he’s going to obliterate “the deep state.” Those descriptions, right or wrong, are then repeated by others, such as the media in its coverage. They’re repeated again as opponents attack him over the use of such words.
“There is a neural reason for this,” Lakoff said. “The main thing is, if it’s in your brain and it’s activating the neural system, whatever is activating your neural system, then your brain makes it stronger.”
Trump has sought to employ the prosecutions against him to justify his own calls to overhaul the “deep state,” including those longtime federal lawyers who make up the Justice Department, as well as other federal agencies that he argues are politically biased against him.
He and his allies have begun to draft plans to overhaul the Justice Department as well as expand his presidential powers by ending protections for tens of thousands of federal employees so that they can be replaced with partisan loyalists.
What Trump has said:
“We pledge to you that we will root out the communists, Marxists, fascists and the radical-left thugs that live like vermin within the confines of our country, that lie and steal and cheat on elections.” —Nov. 11, 2023, New Hampshire
“The threat from outside forces is far less sinister, dangerous and grave than the threat from within. Our threat is from within.” —Nov. 11, 2023, New Hampshire
“In 2016, I declared I am your voice. Today, I add, I am your warrior. I am your justice. And for those who have been wronged and betrayed, I am your retribution.” —March 25, 2023, Waco, Texas
“Either the deep state destroys America, or we destroy the deep state.” —March 25, 2023, Waco, Texas
Foreign policy
During a winter campaign rally, Trump said he told a NATO leader that he would encourage Russia “to do whatever the hell they want” to countries that were “delinquent” and had not paid bills they “owed” the NATO alliance.
His remarks set off a firestorm domestically and internationally, as Congress remains locked in a stalemate over whether to provide Ukraine with additional military assistance so that it can defend itself from the invasion by Russia.
As president, Trump sought to largely pull the United States out of foreign conflicts. But that hasn’t stopped him from making bold claims about the current armed conflicts raging in Europe and the Middle East.
He has repeatedly insisted that those conflicts are related to Biden’s election.
“Look what happened to our country,” Trump said at a rally in Grand Rapids, Michigan. “You have wars that never would have taken place. Russia would have never attacked Ukraine. Israel would have never been attacked. You wouldn’t have had inflation.”
If elected in November, Trump has vowed that both conflicts would be resolved fast. He has said he could end the war in Ukraine within 24 hours but has provided no details.
“There’s a very easy negotiation to take place. But I don’t want to tell you what it is because then I can’t use that negotiation — it’ll never work,” Trump told Fox’s Hannity last year. “But it’s a very easy negotiation to take place. I will have it solved within one day, a peace between them.”
Stirewalt says the secret to Trump talking about foreign policy is making it sound so easy and simple — even the most incredibly complex problems of the day — and people believe him.
“The authoritarian tendency in politics, not just in the United States but anywhere, is to say that there is a simple and easy answer,” Stirewalt said. “But the bad people will not let you obtain it because they’re weak — or they’re corrupt.”
Meanwhile, Trump has pressured lawmakers on Capitol Hill to oppose billions of dollars in additional aid for Ukraine. He has also seemed to go out of his way to avoid criticizing Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Trump’s approach to the war in Gaza has been a little more nuanced.
Then-President Donald Trump talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a ceremony in 2017 in Jerusalem.
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Then-President Donald Trump talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a ceremony in 2017 in Jerusalem.
Evan Vucci/AP
While they worked closely together during his administration, Trump was angry when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu congratulated Biden after winning the 2020 presidential election.
He at first criticized Netanyahu for being unprepared for the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas that killed 1,200 people, and he complimented the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah when it stepped up attacks against Israel.
While he has since pledged strong support for Israel, Trump has also called on Netanyahu to end the war and has warned that Israel was losing the PR war.
“What I said very plainly is get it over with, and let’s get back to peace and stop killing people,” Trump told The Hugh Hewitt Show. “And that’s a very simple statement. Get it over with. They’ve got to finish what they finish. They have to get it done. Get it over with, and get it over with fast, because we have to, you have to get back to normalcy and peace.”
What Trump has said:
Time magazine: You think you could work better with [Israeli politician] Benny Gantz than [Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu in a second term?
Trump: I think Benny Gantz is good, but I’m not prepared to say that. I haven’t spoken to him about it. But you have some very good people that I’ve gotten to know in Israel that could do a good job.
Time: Do you think —
Trump: And I will say this: Bibi Netanyahu rightfully has been criticized for what took place on October 7.
—Interview with Time magazine, published April 30, 2024
“You didn’t pay? You’re delinquent? No, I would not protect you. In fact, I would encourage them to do whatever the hell they want. You gotta pay. You gotta pay your bills.” —Feb. 10, 2024, rally in Conway, South Carolina
“You know, Hezbollah is very smart. They’re all very smart.” —Oct. 11, 2023, speech in West Palm Beach, Florida
“Any Jewish person that votes for Democrats hates their religion. They hate everything about Israel, and they should be ashamed of themselves.” —interview with former Trump administration senior adviser Sebastian Gorka on March 18, 2023
Abortion
Anti-abortion activists march outside the U.S. Supreme Court during the annual March for Life in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 21, 2022.
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Anti-abortion activists march outside the U.S. Supreme Court during the annual March for Life in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 21, 2022.
Jose Luis Magana/AP
Trump’s abortion stances are all about politics. He has repeatedly changed his positions over the years — in 2016, he told MSNBC’s Chris Matthews during a town hall that if abortion were outlawed, “there has to be some form of punishment” for women seeking abortions. He later retracted that statement.
As president, he supported a 20-week federal abortion ban, pushing the Senate to pass it. He also repeatedly took credit for the Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade. But by the time of the 2024 presidential campaign — when Roe was overturned, meaning a federal ban would be possible — his position on a federal ban was unclear.
Notably, he went the entire Republican primary without clarifying his stance on abortion, instead saying he would bring together both sides — abortion-rights supporters and abortion-rights opponents — and negotiate a compromise policy.
When he has spoken about abortion policy during this year’s campaign, he has often stressed one point in particular: that he wants to win.
He said exactly that again when he made an abortion policy announcement on April 8. In that announcement, he said that he wants states to make their own policies and that he supports exceptions to protect a mother’s life, as well as for pregnancies caused by incest or rape. He later added, “But we must win. We have to win.”
Trump is attempting to walk a careful line on abortion. On the one hand, he wants to maintain the favor of the abortion-rights opponents who have long been the Republican base. But on the other hand, he understands that most Americans are not abortion hard-liners and that tight restrictions have proved unpopular in several statewide elections.
In addition, he has not taken a position on sweeping abortion restrictions proposed in Project 2025 — a road map for a conservative presidency written by a coalition of right-wing groups. Those restrictions include curtailing access to abortion pills, as well as using the Comstock Act — a 19th-century law intended to stop indecency — to prohibit the mailing of any goods used in abortions.
What Trump has said:
Time magazine: Are you comfortable if states decide to punish women who access abortions after the procedure is banned?
Trump: Are you talking about number of weeks?
Time: Yeah. Let’s say there’s a 15-week ban —
Trump: Again, that’s going to be — I don’t have to be comfortable or uncomfortable. The states are going to make that decision. The states are going to have to be comfortable or uncomfortable, not me.
—Interview with Time magazine, published April 30, 2024
“The states will determine [their abortion policies] by vote or legislation or perhaps both, and whatever they decide must be the law of the land — in this case, the law of the state. Many states will be different. Many will have a different number of weeks, or some will have more conservative than others. … Always go by your heart. But we must win. We have to win.” —April 8, 2024, Truth Social
“The number of weeks, now, people are agreeing on 15, and I’m thinking in terms of that, and it’ll come out to something that’s very reasonable. But people are really, even hard-liners, are agreeing, seems to be 15 weeks, seems to be a number that people are agreeing at. But I’ll make that announcement at the appropriate time.” —Sid & Friends in the Morning, WABC, March 19, 2024
Trump: People are starting to think of 15 weeks. That seems to be a number that people are talking about right now.
Kristen Welker: Would you sign that?
Trump: I would sit down with both sides and negotiate something, and we’ll end up with peace on that issue for the first time in 52 years. I’m not going to say I would or I wouldn’t.
Trump: Both sides will come together. And for the first time in 52 years, you’ll have an issue that we can put behind us at the federal level. It could be state or it could be federal. I don’t frankly care.
—Meet the Press, NBC, Sept. 16, 2023
“I support the three exceptions for rape, incest and the life of the mother. And I think it’s very hard politically if you don’t support, but you have to go with your heart. You have to go with what you believe, and you have to rely on your heart for that.” —speech to the Concerned Women for America, Sept. 15, 2023
“After 50 years of failure, with nobody coming even close, I was able to kill Roe v. Wade, much to the ‘shock’ of everyone.” —May 17, 2023, Truth Social
“It wasn’t my fault that the Republicans didn’t live up to expectations in the MidTerms. … It was the ‘abortion issue,’ poorly handled by many Republicans, especially those that firmly insisted on No Exceptions, even in the case of Rape, Incest, or Life of the Mother, that lost large numbers of Voters.” —Jan. 1, 2023, Truth Social
“I call upon the Senate to pass this important law and send it to my desk for signing,” referring to the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, which would have banned abortions nationwide after 20 weeks of gestation. —Jan. 19, 2018, March for Life
“The answer is, there has to be some form of punishment.” —March 30, 2016, MSNBC town hall
What Trump hasn’t said:
Trump refused to answer whether a fetus has constitutional rights in that September 2023 Meet the Press interview.
In addition, Trump has not weighed in on the main abortion proposals included in Project 2025. One proposal calls on the Food and Drug Administration to roll back rules making abortion pills more available or to even rescind approval of the pills altogether. The other proposal calls for invoking the Comstock Act, an anti-indecency law, to halt the mailing or transporting of any goods used in providing abortions. That move would greatly restrict abortions, even in states where abortion is legal. NPR asked Trump’s campaign what his position is on the Comstock Act. The campaign wouldn’t answer directly.
Former President Donald Trump speaks to reporters during a visit to a family farm in Leighton, Iowa, on Oct. 1, 2023.
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Former President Donald Trump speaks to reporters during a visit to a family farm in Leighton, Iowa, on Oct. 1, 2023.
Charlie Neibergall/AP
Trade and tariffs
Trump is unfailingly strident in how he talks about trade, proposing policies that are deeply protectionist. His communication about that protectionism is central to his political persona — he uses trade as a way to telegraph that he is business savvy, not to mention that he is tough and wants the U.S. to not get “ripped off.”
This involves suggesting tariff levels that are unheard of in modern U.S. trade policy. During this election cycle, Trump has reportedly discussed tariffs of 60% and, in one speech, of 100%.
There is also a full Trump presidential term of trade policy to observe. As president, Trump started a trade war with China. He also imposed tariffs on steel and aluminum, with the rationale that those tariffs were in the interest of national security because they increased U.S. self-reliance for defense supplies. The right-leaning Tax Foundation, estimates that while Trump’s tariffs did create revenue, they will also cost nearly 170,000 jobs in the long run. Their research also found that the Biden administration kept many of Trump’s tariffs in place.
In his discussions of trade throughout his political career, however, Trump has at times exhibited indifference to, or even a lack of understanding of, how trade works. For example, he has talked about trade deficits as if they are indications that a country is losing money. He also has cast bilateral trade deals as superior to multilateral deals. Most trade experts disagree with that take. Furthermore, while he casts tariffs as beneficial for Americans, tariffs also often end up raising prices for American consumers. Finally, he often talks about trade deals as policies with winners and losers, when the goal of trade deals is to allow all parties to benefit.
It is also worth noting that while Trump’s trade policy is aimed at protecting American industry, it is also deeply concerned with domestic politics — it’s a way to court votes, particularly in industrial states.
What Trump has said:
“I think when companies come in and they dump their products in the United States, they should pay automatically. Let’s say a 10% tax. That money would be used to pay off debt.” —Interview on Fox Business, Aug. 18, 2023
“It is the policy of my Administration to represent the American people and their financial well-being in all negot[i]ations, particularly the American worker, and to create fair and economically beneficial trade deals that serve their interests. Additionally, in order to ensure these outcomes, it is the intention of my Administration to deal directly with individual countries on a one-on-one (or bilateral) basis in negotiating future trade deals.” —Presidential Memorandum Regarding Withdrawal of the United States from the Trans-Pacific Partnership Negotiations and Agreement, Jan. 23, 2017
“Trade wars are good, and easy to win.” —Twitter, March 2, 2018
“This is not merely an economic disaster, but it’s a security disaster. We want to build our ships, we want to build our planes, we want to build our military equipment with steel, with aluminum from our country. And now we’re finally taking action to correct this long-overdue problem.” —speech at White House, March 8, 2018
“Every time I see a weak politician asking to stop Trade talks or the use of Tariffs to counter unfair Tariffs, I wonder, what can they be thinking? Are we just going to continue and let our farmers and country get ripped off? Lost $817 Billion on Trade last year. No weakness!” —Twitter, July 25, 2018
Trans issues
Transgender issues weren’t a major national issue in 2016 they way they are now. Similarly, Trump in 2016 was neither as vocal about nor as stridently opposed to transgender rights. When the topic did come up in a 2016 Today show segment, he said he wanted people to use whatever bathrooms they wanted.
But as president, Trump took several actions to curb transgender rights — excluding transgender individuals from the military, allowing health care professionals to discriminate against them and allowing homeless shelters to exclude them.
And as transgender issues have become central to political culture wars — and as anti-transgender activists have increasingly focused their attention on transgender kids — Trump has become increasingly vocal about the topic as well. He refers to gender-affirming care for minors as “mutilation” and regularly says in his stump speech that transgender girls shouldn’t play girls’ sports — one of his most reliable applause lines.
Often, he wraps transgender issues in with school vaccine and mask mandates, as well as the teaching of what opponents call “critical race theory,” as a way of packaging these social issues as educational policy.
What Trump has said:
“On Day 1, I will sign a new executive order to cut federal funding for any school pushing critical race theory, transgender insanity or other inappropriate racial, sexual or political content onto the lives of our children. I will not give one penny to any school that has a vaccine mandate or a mask mandate. And as I very embarrassingly said before, I will keep men out of women’s sports.” —April 13, 2024, rally in Schnecksville, Pennsylvania
“On Day 1, I will revoke Joe Biden’s cruel policies on so-called gender affirming care. … I will sign a new executive order instructing every federal agency to cease all programs that promote the concept of sex and gender transition at any age. … My Department of Education will inform states and school districts that if any teacher or school officials suggest to a child that they could be trapped in the wrong body, they will be faced with severe consequences, including potential civil rights violations for sex discrimination.” —Jan. 31, 2023, video originally posted on Truth Social, listing an array of anti-transgender policies that Trump would pursue as president
Trump: Leave it the way it is. North Carolina, what they’re going through with all of the business that’s leaving and all of the strife — and that’s on both sides — you leave it the way it is. There have been very few complaints the way it is. People go. They use the bathroom that they feel is appropriate. There has been so little trouble. And the problem with what happened in North Carolina is the strife and the economic — I mean, the economic punishment that they’re taking. …
Matt Lauer: So if Caitlyn Jenner were to walk into Trump Tower and want to use the bathroom, you would be fine with her using any bathroom she chooses?
Trump: That is correct.
—April 21, 2016, NBC’s Today
“The Departments believe that, in this context, there must be due regard for the primary role of the States and local school districts in establishing educational policy. In these circumstances, the Department of Education and the Department of Justice have decided to withdraw and rescind the above-referenced guidance documents in order to further and more completely consider the legal issues involved.” —Feb. 22, 2017, letter from Trump administration Education and Justice department officials, referring to rescinding Obama-era rules that allowed students to use bathrooms and facilities based on their gender identity
“After consultation with my Generals and military experts, please be advised that the United States Government will not accept or allow … Transgender individuals to serve in any capacity in the U.S. Military. Our military must be focused on decisive and overwhelming … victory and cannot be burdened with the tremendous medical costs and disruption that transgender in the military would entail.” —July 26, 2017, Twitter (three tweets: 1, 2, 3)
“We’re going back to the plain meaning of those terms, which is based on biological sex.” —Trump official Roger Severino of the Department of Health and Human Services, May 24, 2019, on a proposed (and later finalized) rule ending Obama-era protections for transgender people against discrimination in health care
“The proposed rule permits Shelter Providers to consider a range of factors in making such determinations, including privacy, safety, practical concerns, religious beliefs, any relevant considerations under civil rights and nondiscrimination authorities, the individual’s sex as reflected in official government documents, as well as the gender which a person identifies with.” —July 1, 2020, proposed Department of Housing and Urban Development rule allowing single-sex shelters to turn people away based on their gender identity
It’s a tiny restaurant in the Little Morocco neighborhood of Queens. But throughout this World Cup, it has swelled with pride, song and beating drums as the Moroccan national team has pushed its way deep into soccer’s biggest international tournament.
It’s a scene that has been echoed across the United States — in a multitude of languages and colors, as soccer fans from all over the world, many now making their homes in America, have packed bars, restaurants, living rooms and concert venues.
No matter where they came from or where they gathered, they all sought the same experience: a chance to watch their nations compete while surrounded by others who share passion and pride for the country they or their ancestors once called home.
Together, these fans have brought places throughout the United States to life.
Bosnia vs Qatar
Bosnians Rejoice in St. Louis, Mo.
Thousands of Bosnians settled in the St. Louis area during the 1990s, as war and genocide ripped their communities apart. The city is now home to more than 60,000 Bosnians, scores of whom gathered at Bevo Caffe Lounge on June 24 to watch Bosnia and Herzegovina play.
This is only the second time the team has qualified for the World Cup — and the first time it has reached the knockout round. Its reward: Meeting one of the hosts, the United States, on Wednesday in Santa Clara, Calif.
Haiti vs Brazil
In Miami, Little Haiti Comes to Life
More than 100,000 residents of Miami-Dade County, Fla., are of Haitian descent, and the Little Haiti neighborhood of Miami has long been their central hub.
During the World Cup, fans of Haiti’s team have flocked to the neighborhood, packing restaurants, bars and even parking lots to watch the action. Many have come wearing jerseys, while others simply dressed in the red and blue of the Haitian flag.
Haiti ended up in a tough group, losing all of its matches, including a 3-0 defeat to Brazil on June 19. But for some fans, the fact that the team had qualified at all was its one victory. Before this year, Haiti had played in only one other World Cup, in 1974.
Morocco
Moroccan Joy in Queens, N.Y.
Touria Lamtahaf worked as a chef four years ago at a restaurant in Astoria, Queens, in the heart of an enclave on Steinway Avenue known as Little Morocco.
After the Moroccan team upset Portugal in a World Cup quarterfinal, Ms. Lamtahaf remembers hundreds of Morocco fans surging onto Steinway Avenue, setting off flares and red smoke bombs to celebrate.
“It was a good memory for all of us,” she said. “We were very proud. You just needed something to be happy. After Covid, this was amazing.”
The neighborhood has long been a hub for immigrant communities from North African countries, including Egypt, and is also home to a large Greek community.
Many settled in Astoria decades ago, drawn by low rents and a neighborhood that could feel calm compared with other bustling parts of New York. Ms. Lamtahaf, who moved to the United States in 2007, said that she originally lived in Ridgewood neighborhood of Queens, but word of mouth led her to Astoria, where she now runs her own restaurant.
The restaurant, Dar Lbahja, is just a few blocks from where she used to work. Ms. Lamtahaf said that when she opened it just over a year ago, she wanted to create a space where people could not just eat, but also gather to watch soccer, like she did growing up with her father in Morocco.
“It was only one TV, and we had to watch with him,” Ms. Lamtahaf said. “So we grew up with the soccer.”
During this tournament, Morocco fans have packed into Dar Lbahja on game days, with many in Morocco’s red jersey, and others in the team’s white kit. They were rewarded with a berth in the knockout stages, and then again on Monday when their team won a tense matchup with the Netherlands in a penalty shootout.
Fans took to the streets in jubilant celebration, just as they did in 2022.
Kacem Ettahali, 19, of Houston, is spending the summer in New York for an internship and watched the first Morocco game of the tournament on June 13 at the restaurant.
After the team scored, Mr. Ettahali received a flurry of texts from his friends. “When they think of Morocco, they think of me,” he said.
He wasn’t the only Texan in the joint. Jori and Ahmed Lamghari traveled from the Dallas area because Ms. Lamghari, 43, wanted her husband to experience the city during the tournament. “I wanted him to get the New York World Cup vibe,” she said.
Mr. Lamghari, 33, said that “Moroccans make their own ambience,” adding, “We want to live it.”
France vs Norway
In Chicago, Hope for Another French Title
The French love a good outdoor drinking venue. For the country’s June 26 match against the rowing Norwegians, fans gathered on the outdoor patio of Soccer House in Chicago, a city whose deep French roots stretch back to the colonial days.
France is widely considered a tournament favorite, potentially giving its fans several more opportunities to celebrate.
Argentina vs Austria
In Provo, Utah, Messi Mania Is a Family Affair
Sporting the colors is intergenerational in Provo, Utah. Luis and Lidia Peve moved there 25 years ago, following a son who emigrated first, and decorated their home with small Argentina flags ahead of the team’s match against Austria on June 22.
As game time approached, about a dozen members of the family painted their faces with the sky blue and white of Argentina’s flag. Together, they sat around the TV with their eyes trained particularly on Lionel Messi, the team’s star, who is likely playing in his last World Cup.
He finished the game with three goals — a hat trick — and a new generation of fans in the Peve household.
D.R. Congo vs Colombia
In Silver Spring, Md., a Happy Return to the World Cup
Congolese fans in Silver Spring, Md., belted out their national anthem in a veterans hall, hands over their hearts, ahead of the country’s match against Colombia on June 23.
Refugee aid programs have resettled many Congolese families in the suburbs north of the nation’s capital, as their nation has been rived by war, unrest and now an Ebola outbreak.
The Congolese side lost its match to Colombia on that day. But the team managed to advance out of the group stage for the first time in its history. Before this World Cup, the country had been to the tournament only once, in 1974, when it lost all of its matches.
Portugal
A Block Party of Red and Green in Rhode Island
The go-to drink special last weekend in East Providence, R.I., was a vodka cocktail called the CR7. And you’d be hard-pressed to find a resident of the region who didn’t know it was in honor of Cristiano Ronaldo, the 41-year-old Portuguese striker who is playing in his sixth — and likely last — World Cup, wearing his famous No. 7.
The drink was served at the Portuguese restaurant O Dinis, a neighborhood staple. A large number of Portuguese immigrants settled in this corner of Rhode Island and nearby Massachusetts during the Industrial Revolution, finding work in the textile, whaling and manufacturing industries.
“Life is beautiful in Portugal,” said Natalia Paiva-Neves, who moved to the United States when she was 16 and now runs O Dinis, which was founded by her father. “But at the time, there was a lot of poverty, because there were no jobs, and there was no tourism. There was none of that stuff going on, so you had to find a means to provide for your family.”
After pre-gaming over CR7s, along with beer, wine, meats and shrimp, some fans walked from O Dinis to a watch party that stretched for two blocks, from a screen in the parking lot of nearby Cafe Alma to Campino’s, another Portuguese restaurant.
“It’s just a great feeling,” said Kevin Matos, the cafe’s owner. “Everybody’s enjoying themselves. It doesn’t matter the result on the screen.”
Some fans might not have agreed, though a scoreless draw sent both teams through to the knockout stage.
The block party, with hundreds of fans lining the streets, was in part the brainchild of East Providence’s mayor, Roberto DaSilva. “We had no idea that it’d be this many people showing up,” he said. “We thought we got a good crowd, but this is much more than than I ever expected.”
Some had to stand on their tiptoes see the screens. Others packed into shops to sit down and watch the game, while others pulled out their phones as they stood in line to buy beer and snacks from food trucks and vendors.
Mexico vs South Korea
A Backyard Party in a Texas Border Town
Roughly four out of five residents in the Texas border town of Weslaco are of Mexican descent, making the country’s June 18 match in Guadalajara feel like a home game.
For a youth soccer team, it was a chance to watch their heroes take another step toward the knockout rounds.
Under the night sky, they watched anxiously, breaking into dance after Mexico won.
Uruguay vs Spain
Elimination Brings Anguish to Uruguay Fans in Miami
Uruguay needed this one. The nation that hosted the first World Cup in 1930, winning the tournament that year and again in 1950, was on the brink of elimination last week against Spain — considered one of the strongest teams in the tournament.
Fans at Doña Paulina, a Uruguayan restaurant in Miami, anxiously watched their team fight for a chance to stay in the competition.
It wasn’t to be. Spain emerged victorious, 1-0.
Japan vs Tunisia
In San Diego, Fans Cheer the Samurai Blue
Their team is called the Samurai Blue, and the many Japanese fans living in Southern California — a diaspora that first settled there in the late 19th century as farmers and fishermen, and endured harsh incarceration during World War II — made their blue kits prominent as the team played its way through a so-called group of death.
They eventually earned a second-place finish to reach the round of 32. The result was a Monday matchup with Brazil, in which Japan fell 2-1.
Iran
In Los Angeles, Mixed Feelings About the Iranian Team
For Americans from Iran, supporting the Iranian national team has been a thorny issue.
Some have refused to even watch the matches. To them, the team feels like an extension of the government, whose persecution drove many to flee the country. It’s especially difficult as their new home, the United States, and their old home are at war.
“That’s a little conflict for me,” said Roozbeh Farahanipour, who helped lead an Iranian student uprising in 1999 and fled the country the following year, seeking political asylum in America. “I am a little different from other fans, because no way I can cheer or stand for either Islamic Republic of Iran’s national anthem, nor for the flags.”
He added, “I am American now. My flag is the U.S. flag.”
Others of Iranian descent have eagerly backed the national team and bristled at its travails, especially in Southern California, which was host to the team’s first match and is home to the largest diaspora of Iranians outside Iran. Many live, shop and eat in the Westwood area of Los Angeles, where an enclave has become known as Tehrangeles, after the Iranian capital.
Still, compared with those of other diasporas, gatherings to back the Iranian team have seemed smaller and more muted. Only a handful of fans gathered at Attari Sandwich Shop, a Persian eatery in the heart of Tehrangeles, during Iran’s June 21 match against Belgium at SoFi Stadium in nearby Inglewood, Calif.
Inside the restaurant, some fans anxiously watched the game over kebab plates and pastries. Others outside proudly waved their flags on the neighborhood thoroughfare, Westwood Boulevard.
Bijan Bahmani, who lives in Los Angeles, took his 2-year-old son to Iran’s match against New Zealand on June 15 in Inglewood with his father-in-law. While he opposes the Iranian regime and hopes for democracy one day, Mr. Bahmani said he still wanted to cheer to the national team.
“It’s complicated, because we have feelings a lot of different ways, with the complicated politics,” said Mr. Bahmani, 41, who moved to the United States in 2001. “I am definitely rooting for Iran because they represent Iran, not the government.”
Even as he took in the game with this family, Mr. Bahmani said the war was on his mind.
“I hope this peace lasts,” he said, referring to the current fragile cease-fire. “Every day, we’re worried.”
Cape Verde vs Saudi Arabia
Celebrating the Small but Mighty in New Bedford, Mass.
Every tournament has a surprise underdog. This year, it’s Cape Verde, a small island nation off the western coast of Africa. Its team had an opportunity on Friday to become the smallest country by population ever to advance to a World Cup knockout round.
The pivotal match drew people of Cape Verdean descent to a veterans hall in New Bedford, Mass., about an hour drive south of Boston. Like Portugal and Brazil, whaling and related industries brought a sizable population of immigrants from Cape Verde to southeastern New England.
A scoreless tie with Saudi Arabia was all it took for tears and roars to erupt in the veterans hall. Their team would keep playing, for at least one more game.
Brazil vs Haiti
A Brazilian Dance Party Near Boston
Massachusetts has a long history of Portuguese-speaking settlers, making Brazilians feel welcome in the Boston area. That’s especially the case in the southwest suburb of Framingham, Mass., where the Brazilian-born population rivals that of Boston.
They packed into Tropical Cafe, a Brazilian restaurant in Framingham, gathering around hightop tables as their team played Haiti on June 19. After Brazil secured a 3-0 win, fans made the restaurant an impromptu dance club to celebrate.
Germany vs Curaçao
In Texas, German Fans Root, and Eat, to Honor a Neighbor
Bratwurst and steins of beer accompanied the match at Bavarian Grill in Plano, Texas, a Dallas suburb, as Germany played Curaçao in Houston on June 14. But perhaps the city’s most important fan of the German team was not there.
Jürgen Mahneke, who was born in Braunschweig, Germany, immigrated to the United States in 1984, and worked in hotels across the country before settling in Plano.
He opened the restaurant in 1993, and died at age 67 on June 10, a day before the World Cup began.
His restaurant went on with the planned festivities. One of the managers said Mr. Mahneke would have wanted them to. His team won its opener, 7-1, but went home on Monday, falling to Paraguay in a heartbreaking penalty shootout — the opposite of Morocco’s elating win hours later.
The U.S. Supreme Court
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The Supreme Court Tuesday upheld the long-established right of children born on U.S. soil to automatic American citizenship, regardless of their parents’ immigration status. In so doing, the court rejected President Trump’s most aggressive attempt to limit immigration in the United States.
Writing for the court majority, Chief Justice John Roberts traced birthright citizenship back to the founding of the nation. Just as the colonists demanded “the rights of Englishmen” more than 250 years ago, he said, Congress, after the Civil War, amended the Constitution to specify automatic citizenship for any child born on U.S. soil.
“Citizenship then and now was the right to have rights”—and the framers of the 14th amendment extended that promise to every free born person in this land. He concluded: “We keep that promise today.”
The vote was 6-to-3, depending on how you count it. Altogether, five justices signed on to the Roberts’ majority opinion. A sixth, Justice Brett Kavanaugh, agreed only that federal legislation enacted in the 1950s grants automatic citizenship for children born in the U.S.
Justice Clarence Thomas wrote the lead dissent, a 91-page opus that agreed with Trump’s assertion that the 14th amendment only applied to former slaves and their descendants. The Thomas dissent added ominously that he “was not sure that “today’s opinion will stand the test of time.” The dissent was joined by Justice Neil Gorsuch, with Justice Samuel Alito writing a separate dissent.
Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, who, like Thomas is African American, responded to some of the themes in the Thomas dissent.
“Despite his longstanding endorsement of a colorblind society,” she wrote, “Justice Thomas now surprisingly suggests that the citizenship clause was a race-conscious remedial measure relating only to freed slaves.”
Cecillia Wang, legal director of the ACLU, who successfully argued the case at the Supreme Court, said President’s Trump failed attempt to limit birthright citizenship was transparent.
“A majority of the court saw through what the president was trying to do in spinning birthright citizenship as something that can flex and retract and expand depending on what the administration in power thinks about immigration policy,” she said.
Wang sees birthright citizenship as “much more fundamental than that.”
“It is part of how our country rejected caste distinctions and championed freedom and equality,” she said.
Yale law professor Akhil Amar called the court’s opinion a classic example of the court sticking to the original meaning of the Constitution. The text of the 14th Amendment, he said, “is about the child. It doesn’t say anything about parents.”
University of Virginia law professor Amanda Frost, however, was surprised and saddened that the court was so closely divided.
“The very length of the opinion,” she told NPR, plus “the fact that you had four justices say the Constitution does not require near universal birthright citizenship, which had been the understanding, that suggests that this is a fringe argument that the Trump administration has succeeded in moving into the mainstream, even though it has not succeeded in the end of the result.”
The issues in the birthright case focused in large part on the longstanding, and as of Tuesday, still standing, meaning of the 14th Amendment, which was enacted after the Civil War. It guarantees birthright citizenship to almost all persons born or naturalized in the United States. Chief Justice Roberts pointedly said the only exceptions written into the amendment were for certain Indian tribes, which were not subject to the laws of the United States at the time, and the children of foreign diplomats. That understanding was so well accepted that even in World War II, when Japanese citizens were confined to internment camps, their children, born in those camps, were automatically deemed to be American Citizens.
The Supreme Court’s decision Tuesday was the second time the justices have upheld birthright citizenship. The court’s previous decision came in 1898 in the case of Wong Kim Ark, born in the U.S. to Chinese parents. His great grandson, Norman Wong, issued a statement today saying, “My great grandfather, Wong Kim Ark, never set out to become a symbol. He was one man, only a cook, and yet he stood up for what was right, and I believe that it has made a difference. As a result, he stood up for the rights of all of us Americans – it just so happens that I am related to him. Today’s ruling shows that his victory remains as important now as it was in 1898.”
The high court also issued opinions in two other cases on Tuesday. In a 6-to-3, ideologically divided vote, the court upheld state laws that prevent transgender athletes from playing on women’s sports teams. Writing for the conservative majority, Justice Brett Kavanaugh said that the laws violate neither federal statutes nor the 14th Amendment. States, he said, have a legitimate interest in protecting the safety of sports, which he suggested could be compromised if transgender girls or women are allowed to play on female teams. Similarly, he said transgender athletes could also compromise fairness in athletic competition.
Sitting in the court chambers Tuesday when Kavanaugh summarized his opinion were not only his wife and mother, but his two daughters, whose athletic teams their father has long coached.
Justice Sonia Sotomayor, joined by her liberal colleagues, issued a partial dissent. She agreed with the majority that the benefits of sports are “immense,” but she wrote that these laws unconstitutionally deny transgender athletes the opportunity to play with their peers.
In a third ideologically divided case Tuesday, the Court struck down decades-long limits on the amount of money political parties can spend on candidates. The limits were challenged by the Republican National Committee. The decision may well increase by millions of dollars the amount of money that will pour into campaigns.
Rep. Thomas Kean Jr., R-N.J., arrives at the U.S. Capitol with his wife Rhonda Kean on June 30.
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New Jersey Republican Thomas Kean Jr. said it was struggles with depression that kept him away from Congress for nearly four months with no explanation to his constituents.
Kean last voted on March 5th, missing numerous votes and other appearances on Capitol Hill since. In April, House Speaker Mike Johnson told reporters he had spoken to Kean and that he was dealing with an undisclosed medical issue. Kean was not spotted until recently at his New Jersey home.
Speaking from the House floor on Tuesday, the second term lawmaker said he had checked into a hospital for testing several months ago after health concerns, and was subsequently diagnosed with depression.
“Talking about myself has never come naturally,” Kean said. “But I believe that I owe an explanation to the people of New Jersey’s seventh district, to my colleagues in this chamber and to the American people for my absence.”
Kean said he originally did not think his diagnosis would result in a long-term absence. Doctors recommended he remain in the hospital to address the illness, and it was his fastest route to recovery, he said.
“It is physical. It is emotional,” he said. “And until you experience it yourself, it is difficult to fully understand how powerful this illness could be.”
Kean said he miscalculated how long he would be away, estimating it would be a matter of weeks. However, he said like the roughly 48 million Americans who have battled the illness, he learned there is no timeline for recovery.
“I am grateful that I accepted help,” Kean said. “Today I stand before you healthier, stronger and excited to return to the work that I love.”
Kean’s absence proved a struggle for House Republicans, who contend with a razor thin majority to pass party priorities. For weeks, Kean and his office declined to share additional details on why he was away, feeding rumors and speculation and raising interest in a member known for his privacy.
Despite his absence, Kean won the GOP primary earlier this month to defend his seat in Congress in this fall’s midterm elections. He will face Democrat Rebecca Bennett, a former U.S. Navy helicopter pilot and healthcare executive.
Bennett has targeted Kean’s absence in her campaign. Democrats have said Kean’s 7th congressional district is a top target to flip in their pursuit of taking back the majority.
“Tom Kean Junior, wherever you are, you have failed this district,” Bennett told supporters at an event last week.
In a statement after Kean’s remarks on Tuesday, Bennett said she was relieved he was well and wished him good health.
“But let’s be clear: I got into this race because Tom Kean Jr. was failing our community long before this absence,” she said.
Kean is not the first member of Congress in recent years to speak publicly about their struggles with depression. Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., took leave from the Capitol in 2023 after he was diagnosed with the illness. In Fetterman’s case, his office announced the news within days of his starting treatment.
Kean was elected to Congress for his first term beginning in 2023, flipping a district that was represented by former Democratic Congressman Tom Malinowski.
He comes from a long line of politicians: His father, former New Jersey Gov. Thomas Kean Sr., was appointed by former President George W. Bush as a chair of the 9/11 Commission. Kean’s grandfather and great grandfather also served in Congress.
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