President Trump brags he has done ‘great with white everything’

“It’s the thesis statement of an administration built on grievance, racial division, confusion, and the scam of whiteness,” Dr. Marcus Anthony Hunter tells theGrio.

While touting his handling of the U.S. economy at a rally in Iowa on Tuesday, President Donald Trump bragged about his perceived accomplishments with certain demographics.

Touting a Rasmusen poll that he claimed shows favorable support for his handling of the presidency, Trump told the audience, “We did so great in the election with Hispanic voters. We did so great with Black men.” He then added, “We did so great with white everything.”

The president’s “white everything” stood out to critics who say the Trump administration continues to signal a white greivance agenda that is rooted in white nationalist ideology.

“This administration does not bother to hide its worldview. His cabinet posts on social media in ways that echo white supremacist messages, and he attacks leaders like Rep. Ilhan Omar with open racism,” said Brandon Weathersby, a spokesperson for American Bridge 21st Century, a liberal research firm.

Weathersby told theGrio, “None of it is surprising anymore. What should shock the voters who looked past his character and trusted his promises is how completely he failed to deliver. He did not create jobs the way he said he would, and prices for everyday items continue to skyrocket.”

He added, “Instead of doing his job, Trump is still reliving the last election while voters are stuck with his failures.” 

While Trump pointed out his support among Black men, 77% of whom voted against him in the 2024 election, Black men and Black Americans more broadly, are suffering in Trump’s economy. The Black unemployment rate, currently 7.5% (much higher than the national rate of 4.4%), has steadily increased during Trump’s second term.

“President Trump’s stating he’s doing ‘great with white everything’ is not a joke or a gaffe; it’s the thesis statement of an administration built on grievance, racial division, confusion, and the scam of whiteness,” said Dr. Marcus Anthony Hunter, a racial justice advocate and professor of sociology and African American studies at UCLA.

Hunter told theGrio, “President Trump’s remarks signal politics suffering from a steady diet of misinformation whereby equity is treated and understood as an attack and exclusion rather than as a governing principle.”

The Trump administration has repeatedly signaled its support for white grievance politics, most notably rolling back anti-DEI policies and even issuing a PSA to white men who may be victims of workplace discrimination, despite the white male unemployment rate being below the national rate at 3.6%.

President Trump also received blowback after he claimed the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 resulted in “reverse discrimination,” in which white people were “very badly treated.”

According to a report by the Center for American Progress, Trump’s policies, including mass cuts to the federal workforce and rolling back civil rights enforcement, are disproportionately hurting the Black middle class.

“Despite President Trump’s past sales pitches and current claims to the contrary, his policy agenda for the Black middle class has been a bait and switch. These policies have the deliberate effect of erasing the Black middle class and making it unattainable for any future generation,” says the report authored by William Roberts and Mariam Rashid.

“The Trump administration has made deliberate policy choices that threaten Black middle-class families—perhaps that is why his support among Black Americans has collapsed so precipitously since returning to office.”