President Donald Trump named four countries in a single line at a Georgia campaign rally, and one of them answered by summoning America’s top diplomat in its capital.
Libya’s Foreign Ministry called in U.S. Chargé d’Affaires Inga Heemink on Sunday, Oct. 25, 2026, to deliver a formal protest over comments Trump made a day earlier at a rally in Perry, Ga. The ministry called the comments “offensive.”
Trump, 80, told the Perry crowd that Sen. Jon Ossoff, a Georgia Democrat, had “personally sponsored a bill to bring armies of migrants from terror-infested countries like Libya, Yemen, Haiti, Somalia.” He then reached back to his 2018 Oval Office comments: “Remember what I called them? S–thouse countries,” he said.
The Perry rally was one of his campaign stops before the Nov. 3 midterm elections, where he backed Republicans including Rep. Mike Collins, who is challenging Ossoff for his Senate seat.
Both Libyan Governments Want an Apology
Libya’s two rival governments condemned Trump the same day. The foreign ministry of the Tripoli-based Government of National Unity rejected any statements that “undermine the dignity of its people or diminish their standing,” and objected to Libya being pulled into American “electoral debates.”
The Presidential Council, which ordered the summons of the top U.S. diplomat in Tripoli, demanded an “explicit apology and correction.” The rival Government of National Stability, seated in the eastern cities of Tobruk and Benghazi, demanded a formal apology of its own, and a committee of the House of Representatives, the eastern parliament, asked Washington for an official clarification on the grounds that the remarks diminished Libya’s standing.
Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah, who heads the Tripoli government, posted on social media that Libya’s sovereignty and its people’s dignity must not become material for American election fights. His government values the relationship with the United States “on the basis of mutual respect,” he added.
Conservative activist Laura Loomer, in an Oct. 26 post on X, wrote that “in an official government statement,” Libya had referred to Trump as “one of the visitors to the Dirty Epstein Island,” and attached a screenshot of the statement. The eastern-based Libyan government in Benghazi released that statement after the Georgia rally remarks. Loomer also reposted Dbeibah’s statement defending Libya’s sovereignty.
A Bill That Brings No One
The legislation Trump attacked, immigration measures put forward in the Senate in June, is not about Libyan migrants at all. He was apparently referring to S. 4814, which would shield only qualifying Haitian migrants already living in the United States from deportation under his immigration crackdown. The bill would bring no one into the country.
Praise, but Still No Apology
Trump answered Sunday evening with a Truth Social post praising Libyans and stopping short of an apology. “The Libyan people are proud, resilient, hospitable, and deserving of peace and prosperity,” he wrote.
He voiced respect for the sacrifices brave Libyans made fighting ISIS, which he called the “common enemy” of both peoples, and reaffirmed his commitment to stronger ties with Libya. He backed efforts to unify the country’s institutions and move toward national elections, without a timetable and without announcing an initiative. “Libya cannot remain a corridor for illegal migration, and this must end now,” he added.
In her Oct. 26 post, Loomer also called on Secretary of State Marco Rubio to have visas issued to Libyan nationals “permanently revoked” in the United States.
Libya has been split between rival governments in the east and west since the 2011 uprising that toppled longtime leader Moammar Gadhafi, followed by years of war and instability.
Denmark Still Owns the Arctic Territory
Trump used the same Georgia event to claim that Denmark had given Greenland to the United States. He repeated the claim Sunday, Oct. 25, at a rally in Michigan, saying the United States owns the Arctic territory and works it with Denmark.
His administration signed an agreement with the Danish government on Sept. 22 that expands American military access to Greenland, explicitly reaffirms Denmark’s sovereignty and Greenlanders’ right to self-determination, and transfers no ownership. Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has been adamant on that point. Trump has repeatedly threatened to annex Greenland since taking office for a second term in 2025.
