--- description: Americans with roots in Haiti, El Salvador and Africa declared their pride on Twitter after Donald Trump called them "shithole countries." title: Americans Say They're Proud of Their Roots in Trump's 'Shithole Countries' image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt67d77d042a9a73d6/6988cbd00a4a2296989ce042/dangerous-countries-american-travelers.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Newsfeed](/tag/time-section-newsfeed/) ## Newsfeed Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Americans Say They're Proud of Their Roots in Trump's 'Shithole Countries' by [Ashley Hoffman](/author/ashley-hoffman/) ## Ashley Hoffman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jan 12, 2018 4:40 PM CUT  Totally polluted River Mapou flowing through Cap Haitien, Haiti, Caribbean, Central America Totally polluted River Mapou flowing through Cap Haitien, Haiti, Caribbean, Central AmericaGetty Images by [Ashley Hoffman](/author/ashley-hoffman/) ## Ashley Hoffman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jan 12, 2018 4:40 PM CUT Americans with roots in Haiti, El Salvador and African nations took to the internet to declare their pride in the face of reports that [President Donald Trump](http://time.com/time-person-of-the-year-2017-donald-trump-runner-up/ "undefined") referred to them as [“shithole countries”](http://time.com/5100741/dick-durbin-donald-trump-immigration-meeting/ "undefined") in a White House meeting about immigration. While Trump has [denied that he used the vulgar language](http://time.com/5100481/donald-trump-shithole-countries-respond/ "undefined"), many Americans who immigrated from those countries or who have parents or grandparents from them shared their personal achievements and pride in their heritage. The comment reportedly came in a White House meeting discussing alternative ways to allow residents of those countries who have lost [temporary protected status](http://time.com/4788688/homeland-security-secretary-extends-protections-for-haitians-for-6-months/ "undefined") [under the Trump Administration](http://time.com/5092645/salvador-temporary-protected-status-donald-trump/ "undefined") to stay in the country. “Why are we having all these people from shithole countries come here?” Trump said, according to [a Washington _Post_ account](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-attacks-protections-for-immigrants-from-shithole-countries-in-oval-office-meeting/2018/01/11/bfc0725c-f711-11e7-91af-31ac729add94%5Fstory.html?utm%5Fterm=.f4b297afceae "undefined") since confirmed by Democratic Sen. [Dick Durbin](http://time.com/5100741/dick-durbin-donald-trump-immigration-meeting/ "undefined"), who was in the meeting. > [](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/951793123985973248) Here’s how people on the internet responded: > [](https://twitter.com/Darodrig/status/951814582967836672) > [](https://twitter.com/AF%5FROdisiac/status/951615037973594113) > [](https://twitter.com/Lagat1500/status/951683219174428672) > [](https://twitter.com/KBonsept/status/951819748429492225) > [](https://twitter.com/IamWizEthiopia/status/951800334938263553) > [](https://twitter.com/DiaCrenshaw/status/951585759114547200) > [](https://twitter.com/AemenHagelsafy/status/951672562274193408) > [](https://twitter.com/charlesthegreen/status/951640305345773568) > [](https://twitter.com/MariaLiaCalvo/status/951827082388168706) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5100729/donald-trump-shithole-countries-twitter-hashtag/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5100729/donald-trump-shithole-countries-twitter-hashtag/"},"headline":"Americans Say They're Proud of Their Roots in Trump's 'Shithole Countries'","datePublished":"2018-01-12T16:40:25.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:49:44.631Z","description":"\"I'm proudly from the first #shithole country Donald Trump attacked\"","url":"https://time.com/5100729/donald-trump-shithole-countries-twitter-hashtag/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Africa","politics","viral","Immigration","El Salvador","Haiti","Donald Trump","trump"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt67d77d042a9a73d6/6988cbd00a4a2296989ce042/dangerous-countries-american-travelers.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Ashley Hoffman","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/ashley-hoffman/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt67d77d042a9a73d6/6988cbd00a4a2296989ce042/dangerous-countries-american-travelers.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Totally polluted River Mapou flowing through Cap Haitien, Haiti, Caribbean, Central America","caption":"Totally polluted River Mapou flowing through Cap Haitien, Haiti, Caribbean, Central America","creditText":"Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5100729/donald-trump-shithole-countries-twitter-hashtag/","name":"Americans Say They're Proud of Their Roots in Trump's 'Shithole Countries'"}}]}] ```