Libya calls in the top US diplomat over Trump’s “terror-infested” comments
Libya’s foreign ministry summoned the US chargé d’affaires on Sunday after President Trump called the country “terror-infested” at a campaign rally the day before.
Speaking in Perry, Georgia, Trump went after Democratic Senator Jon Ossoff, saying Ossoff had “personally sponsored a bill to bring armies of migrants from terror-infested countries like Libya, Yemen, Haiti, Somalia. Remember what I called them? Shithouse countries.” It was a callback to the “shithole countries” remarks that caused a stir in his first term.
Libyan officials called the comments offensive and said they won’t accept anything that undermines their people’s dignity or pulls the country into US election politics. Rival governments in the east and west both pushed back, with some demanding clarification or an apology.
Trump later posted on Truth Social that Libyans are “proud, resilient, hospitable, and deserving of peace and prosperity,” and that the US respects their role fighting ISIS. He added that Libya “cannot remain a corridor for illegal migration, and this must end now,” while saying Washington still wants stronger ties and supports the country’s unification and elections.
Libya remains split between competing authorities years after Gaddafi’s fall, and migration has long been a sore point in its relationship with the US. #Libya
