After voting Republican, some Arab-Americans are disappointed with Trump

Some in Michigan’s Arab American community who helped Donald Trump win the battleground state last year are expressing their disappointment with the president’s handling of the war in Gaza and his new travel ban.

It came as a particular shock to many Yemeni Americans in the Dearborn area, who were surprised to find their country on Trump's new list banning travel to the U.S. by citizens of 12 different countries, mostly in Africa and the Middle East.

Trump signed the proclamation last week, and it went into effect Monday. It applies to citizens of Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, the Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen.

While it may not elicit the same protests as 2017, many Yemeni and Arab Americans in Michigan see it as yet another offense contributing to enormous dissatisfaction with both major political parties in the U.S. Michigan is home to one of the largest Arab American populations in the U.S., largely concentrated in the Detroit area.

The state was an epicenter of anger at President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris for the administration’s support of Israel’s offensive in Gaza, which has resulted in a worsening humanitarian crisis and sparked a historic shift away from the Democratic Party.

A future impact on elections?

Whether the shift lasts may be determined by what happens in the coming years.

In November, Trump became the first Republican presidential candidate to win Dearborn, America’s largest Arab-majority city, since 2000. Both major political parties will have to appeal to the Arab and Muslim communities in the Detroit area in key upcoming races in 2026. With open races for the governor’s office and a US Senate seat, a few thousand votes could tip the balance of power in Lansing and in Congress. Osama Siblani is publisher of the Dearborn-based Arab American News. He said one thing is certain: There is anger at Trump within his city.

“What Donald Trump has done is he bluffed the community. He lied to the community,” Siblani said. “He tried to appeal to the community that he's a peacemaker, he doesn't want to create trouble in the world. “All he's doing is creating trouble in the world and in the United States of America.”