NYT
WASHINGTON
President Donald Trump on Friday offered a vague denial about the language he chose to use about immigrants during a private meeting with lawmakers at the White House on Thursday, when he reportedly referred to African nations as"shithole countries."
"The language used by me at the DACA meeting was tough, but this was not the language used," Trump wrote in a Twitter post on Friday morning.
His tweet did not elaborate on what"tough" language he used and did not provide a specific account of the meeting.
The White House has not denied his use of racially charged rhetoric.
The vague denial was the president's fourth Twitter post Friday.
The meeting he discussed was about the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, the Obama-era effort that provided temporary work permits and reprieves from deportation to immigrants brought to the United States as children by their parents.
The president, in a discussion about African nations, asked why he would want"all these people from shithole countries," according to people with direct knowledge of the conversation.
Trump also said the United States should admit more people from places like Norway, an overwhelmingly white country.
Trump's reported remarks are the latest example of the president's use of racially tinged language about immigrants.
Trump's first Twitter post Friday called the immigration deal that would protect immigrants who arrived in the United States illegally as children"a big step backwards."
The president's thoughts on immigration sprawled several Twitter posts on Friday before he tweeted his denial about the language he used at the DACA meeting.
The senators are working to codify the protections in DACA.
When Trump heard that Haitians would benefit from the immigration deal, he asked whether they could be left out of the plan and asked why the United States would want people from Haiti, according to people with direct knowledge of the conversation.