Mayor takes a very special call from the president

Mayor Ghalib received President Trump’s endorsement for another term.

By Charles Sercombe
Mayor Amer Ghalib now has a key endorser for his re-election.
And it’s the biggest political player in the nation: President Donald J. Trump.
On Tuesday, Ghalib posted on his Facebook page that Trump called him, and that they discussed “a number of issues,” including Trump’s support for Ghalib to seek another term as mayor.
There has also been much speculation that Ghalib would be offered a position in the Trump administration.
So, is Ghalib heading to Washington D.C.?
It’s not exactly clear if an offer was made, but Ghalib said Trump “asked me to accept a dual role that will help our community and our great country as a whole.”
The Review reached out to Ghalib for an explanation on what he meant by serving a “dual role,” but as of Thursday when we went to press, he had not responded.
As for other parts of the conversation with the president, Ghalib said they discussed “the importance of achieving just peace in the Middle East and Ukraine in just peaceful ways, and other dispersed topics.”

Ghalib made national news last year after he endorsed Trump for president. Ghalib, an immigrant from Yemen, had soured on supporting President Biden for his re-election because of his administration’s continued support of Israel in its war in Gaza.
Later, after Biden dropped out of the race and Vice President Kamala Harris became the Democratic presidential candidate, Ghalib remained a Trump supporter because Trump promised to bring peace in Gaza and Ukraine.
Ghalib also convinced a number of other metro area Arabs and Muslims to support Trump for president, and Trump repaid the favor by making a stop here in Hamtramck at a campaign office on Jos. Campau.
Trump praised Ghalib, calling him the “greatest mayor in the whole world.”
But Trump soon alienated some in the community by calling immigrants from Yemen “terrorists” in a subsequent stump speech in Pennsylvania in early October.
Ghalib waved all that off, saying he talked with Trump about it and Trump promised not to say that again.
Among his many campaign promises, Trump said he would end the war in Ukraine and in Gaza on “day one.”
A ceasefire deal was reached between Israel and Hamas in Gaza during the last days of President Biden’s administration. Russia’s war in Ukraine continues to this day, and Trump has largely sided with Russia’s terms and demands to end its war.
On Wednesday, he called Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy a “dictator without elections,” and falsely accused Ukraine of starting the war with Russia.
As for Gaza, Trump’s plan is to permanently relocate Palestinians living there to neighboring Arab countries, with Trump then taking ownership of Gaza, which he envisions to be rebuilt as the “Riviera of the Middle East.”
Those comments have outraged Arabs in the region and here in the U.S.
Ghalib said he does not agree with Trump on that issue, but stressed in a Facebook posting on his page that:
“I made it clear from day one that President Trump and I have some differences and we do not agree on everything. This was the first sentence of my endorsement and he posted it on his Truth Social page,” Ghalib said.
“I also asked people in my endorsement to have realistic expectations and goals, one of them is that the United States foreign policy will not change much and its commitment to support Israel will not change! Didn’t we say that many times?
“Yes, I disagree with the president on the idea of evacuating the indigenous people of Gaza from their homeland, but this idea was on the table during the 15 months war, now it’s still there but minus the war, which Biden failed to stop, but President Trump did stop and delivered his promise of ceasefire.”
Ghalib’s continued support of Trump has caused division in the Arab community; some have labeled him a sellout, while others have heaped praise on him.
Posted Feb. 21, 2025