At the White House, the mayor is praised

Mayor Amer Ghalib (center and sitting) recently attended an iftar dinner at the White House along with other Muslim community leaders from across the country. Photo: Facebook

By Charles Sercombe
Mayor Amer Ghalib got a special shoutout by President Trump at a recent iftar dinner at the White House.
Trump, who spoke for 10 minutes, heaped praise on Ghalib and Dearborn Heights Mayor Bill Bazzi, both of whom endorsed Trump in the presidential election, calling them “two great gentlemen.”
About Ghalib, Trump went on to say “he’s done a great job as mayor, and he’s doing a great job with his support of us. Mr. Ghalib, thank you very much, was such a tremendous endorsement right at the right time. Your timing was excellent, and you’ll be the next ambassador to Kuwait.”
Trump is also nominating Bazzi to be ambassador to Tunisia.
As for the Muslim community in the country, Trump said “We’re going to keep our promise to the Muslim community. My administration is engaged in the relentless diplomacy to forge a lasting peace in the Middle East, building on the historic Abraham Accords.”
Trump campaigned on a promise of being the “peace” president, and ending the war between Israel and Hamas, as well as the war in Ukraine.
When Trump took office, Israel and Hamas had reached a ceasefire, but recently Israel resumed bombing Palestine, and even Beirut. Ukraine has continued to defend against Russia’s invasion.
Ghalib was among other Muslim leaders from various communities in the country to attend the dinner.
An iftar dinner is the meal that Muslims have to break their daylong fast in observance of the holy month of Ramadan, which ended last Saturday evening or early Sunday.
During Trump’s remarks, he also touched on the economy, saying that it is in a state of transition. He also noted that the price of eggs have been “slashed” by 50 percent.
(Egg prices have come down, consumer experts say, because the industry has recuperated from the loss of 30 million egg-laying chickens from the avian flu, and also because there has been lower consumer demand.)
Trump said that what has united him with the Muslim community is his opposition to LGBTQ material in schools.
“We’re fighting for parents’ rights in school choice,” he said. “We’re stopping schools from indoctrinating children with transgender ideology – something people in this room are not happy about.”
During his presidential campaign, Trump falsely claimed that children were having sex change operations in schools.
Trump added that his administration has moved to keep “men out of women’s sports.”
He ended, saying: “You have somebody in the White House that loves you.”
This isn’t the first time that Mayor Ghalib was invited to the White House for an iftar dinner. He and some city councilmembers were invited a few years ago when President Biden was in office.
Ghalib said that, unlike on the previous visit, he paid for his travel expenses instead of having the city foot the bill.
On his Facebook page, Ghalib had this to say about his experience at this dinner:
“President Trump responds to the yellow and fake press, praises as usual for my role that helped him win the elections, my successes as mayor of Hamtramck, and the historic settlement that made the difference and came at the right time.”
As for his potential nomination, Ghalib said:
‘I will work diligently if the Senate confirms my appointment, using my powers as ambassador and commissioner above the ordinary, to strengthen and improve bilateral relations between Kuwait and the United States, and I will place the interests of our great country, the United States, above all considerations.”
Posted April 4, 2025