Connect with us

Published

on

America is full of contradictions. This is the story of one of them: the Arab-Americans who will vote for Donald Trump. 

He’s the man who says immigrants are “poisoning the blood of the country”, who calls them “terrorists”, and who wants a “Muslim ban”.

And yet, in a journey through Michigan, I’ve found they are swinging to him.

Follow live: Jitters on US markets amid heavy betting on Trump win

It’s not just a story about the war in the Middle East. It goes beyond the desire to punish Biden and now Harris. It is about much more than the war.

In places like Dearborn or Hamtramck, it doesn’t take long to discover that a dynamic shift in views is taking place and that – as is so often the case – is about a perceived sense of abandonment but here with a particular twist.

A flag depicting the attempted assassination of Trump at a Michigan home
Image:
A flag depicting the attempted assassination of Trump at a Michigan home

My journey began at a local high school. Picture the place you’d imagine in the movies and that’s it.

Red brick outside, rows of lockers inside. The yellow buses, the Stars and Stripes and the pledge of allegiance.

It is the perfect reflection of America but with a diversity that defies the stereotypes, and views that may do too.

The Frontier International Academy is in the heart of Hamtramck, the only Muslim-majority city in America and the students reflect the demographic.

In between the “recess” game of American Football, the first-time voters and second-generation immigrants talk politics.

“We don’t know what she is going to provide, we don’t know what she is going to do. So I think it’s just a safer bet to go for Donald Trump,” 18-year-old Jubran Ali tells me.

Jubran Ali, 18, who thinks Trump is a 'safer bet' than Harris
Image:
Jubran Ali, 18, who thinks Trump is a ‘safer bet’ than Harris

“I’m actually asking people around me to see what they’re voting, and most people are voting for Donald Trump,” Edris Alhady, also 18, says.

Michigan is one of the seven swing states in this country where the White House will be won or lost.

Shifts to the left or the right among small margins of voters will determine which way the country goes.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

Have bookies decided on next US president?

In 2016, Trump was the first Republican to win Michigan since 1988. He beat Hillary Clinton by fewer than 11,000 votes.

Four years later, in 2020, Joe Biden won the state by only 154,188 votes out of more than 5.5 million cast – a 2.8% margin of victory.

Read more:
Musk vows to give $1m a day over election petition
Trump paces the stage in silence after mic cuts out
Harris risked a lot for Fox interview – it may not have paid off

Michigan has the highest number of Arab-Americans in America. They represent a key voting bloc – one which the Democratic Party may have taken for granted.

Amer Ghalib is the mayor of Hamtramck. He is member of the Democratic Party and his office reflects his political roots- a photo of him with President Joe Biden sits prominently on his desk.

But something profound has happened since that snap was taken.

On Friday Mayor Ghalib welcomed Donald Trump to the city – a visit which came weeks after he endorsed the former president.

Mayor Amer Ghalib, a Democrat who has endorsed the former president
Image:
Mayor Amer Ghalib, a Democrat who has endorsed the former president

“Why Trump?” I asked.

“Well… it’s a combination of two things. Disappointment and hope. Disappointment that the current administration and how they are handling things locally or internationally, and hope that the new administration, led by Trump, will do something different.”

Our conversation was revealing in many ways. I’d come to this city expecting to hear anger about American policy in the Middle East. After all, the people here have deep existing ties to the region.

But only now was it obvious that the Arab-American shift right is also a consequence of the gradual leftward drift by the Democrats.

It’s about the real war in the Middle East, but it’s about culture wars too.

👉 Tap here to follow the Sky News Daily wherever you get your podcasts 👈

Last year an attempt to fly a pride flag on city property was blocked by the mayor and his team.

“There is so much aggression and attempts to enforce certain values on the majority of this community,” Mayor Ghalib said, “…on schools, on public properties, city hall and the Democratic Party is not doing anything to prevent that shift in dynamics.”

I asked if anyone from Kamala Harris’s team had been in touch about his concerns before or since his endorsement of Trump.”No. No,” he said.

“Does that surprise you?”

“They think I’m a fake Democrat. All my life here I voted Democrat.”

Trump’s visit to the city is the culmination of groundwork by members of Team Trump for months, an indication of how important they see this state and this demographic.

So what about Trump’s pro-Israel stance? As he arrived in Detroit last week he praised Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

“Well, I don’t think there’s anything worse than what’s happening now,” the mayor said.

It’s a sentiment echoed here. The idea that no one can be worse than the Democrats on Israel-Gaza, and that domestically – on social issues and the economy – Trump would be better for this community.

Drive west out of Hamtramck through the Detroit suburbs and you reach Dearborn.

About half the population here is Arab-American, most from Lebanon. Over coffee with local environmental activist Samraa Luqman, a conversation that should alarm the Harris campaign.

Samraa Luqman, who voted for Clinton in 2016 and wrote in Sanders' name in 2020
Image:
Samraa Luqman, who voted for Clinton in 2016 and wrote in Sanders’s name in 2020

She tells me that she voted for Hillary Clinton in 2016, she wrote Bernie Sanders’s name onto the ballot in 2020. And this year?

“I’m voting for Trump,” Samraa says. “Why?” I ask.

“The genocide. Policy-wise, I don’t like any of the Republican policies, to be frank, at all… I will still vote for him because one thing I hate more than all those other policies is genocide… And that’s the sentiment of an entire community.”

I asked what made her think Trump would be any better for the Arab cause.

Follow Sky News on WhatsApp
Follow Sky News on WhatsApp

Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News

Tap here

“Trump is a wild card… will he do exactly what Kamala does or worse or better? But I know for sure what the Democrats are doing and they’re intending to continue it.”

This journey through communities that feel now forgotten and unheard ends for me where it started for them – at Detroit’s old Ford factory which drew so many Middle Eastern immigrants here generations ago.

There I met the local Yemeni-American Democratic Party caucus leader with a startling conclusion.

“I think the damage is great. I assure you that it’s not just about Michigan. This is a nationwide phenomena,” he said.

“I am very worried,” Abdulhakim Alsadeh said.

Abdulhakim Alsadeh
Image:
Abdulhakim Alsadeh

I ask him if he thinks the Democratic Party has messed up this campaign.

“Yes, I believe so. I really do,” he said. “The Republican nominee, former president Donald Trump, reached out to the Yemeni-American community. They sat with him. They talked with him.”

“Everybody is concerned,” he said.

It won’t take many to swing this state and streamline the path to the White House.

Here, through all the contradictions, many are swinging to Trump.

Freelance producer Ahmed Baider contributed to this report

Continue Reading

World

At least 15 injured in ‘US-British’ strike on Yemeni capital, according to Houthi group

Published

on

By

At least 15 injured in 'US-British' strike on Yemeni capital, according to Houthi group

Yemen’s Houthi rebel group has said 15 people have been injured in “US-British” airstrikes in and around the capital Sanaa.

Most of those hurt were from the Shuub district, near the centre of the city, a statement from the health ministry said.

Another person was injured on the main airport road, the statement added.

It comes after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to retaliate against the Houthis and their Iranian “masters” following a missile attack by the group on Israel’s main international airport on Sunday morning.

It remains unclear whether the UK took part in the latest strikes and any role it may have played.

On 29 April, UK forces, the British government said, took part in a joint strike on “a Houthi military target in Yemen”.

“Careful intelligence analysis identified a cluster of buildings, used by the Houthis to manufacture drones of the type used to attack ships in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, located some fifteen miles south of Sanaa,” the British Ministry of Defence said in a previous statement.

More from World

On Sunday, the militant group fired a missile at the Ben Gurion Airport, sparking panic among passengers in the terminal building.

The missile impact left a plume of smoke and briefly caused flights to be halted.

Four people were said to be injured, according to the country’s paramedic service.

This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly.

Please refresh the page for the fullest version.

You can receive breaking news alerts on a smartphone or tablet via the Sky News app. You can also follow us on WhatsApp and subscribe to our YouTube channel to keep up with the latest news.

Continue Reading

World

Netanyahu vows to retaliate against Houthis and Iran after missile attack

Published

on

By

Netanyahu vows to retaliate against Houthis and Iran after missile attack

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to retaliate against the Houthis and their Iranian “masters” after the group launched a missile attack on the country’s main international airport.

A missile fired by the group from Yemen landed near Ben Gurion Airport, causing panic among passengers in the terminal building.

“Attacks by the Houthis emanate from Iran,” Mr Netanyahu wrote on X. “Israel will respond to the Houthi attack against our main airport AND, at a time and place of our choosing, to their Iranian terror masters.”

Pic: Reuters
Image:
Israeli police officers investigate the missile crater. Pic: Reuters

The missile impact left a plume of smoke and briefly halted flights and commuter traffic at the airport. Some international carriers have cancelled flights to and from Tel Aviv for several days.

Four people were lightly wounded, paramedic service Magen David Adom said.

Air raid sirens went off across Israel and footage showed passengers yelling and rushing for cover.

The attack came hours before senior Israeli cabinet ministers were set to vote on whether to intensify the country’s military operations in the Gaza Strip, and as the army began calling up thousands of reserves in anticipation of a wider operation in the enclave.

More on Iran

Houthi military spokesperson Brigadier General Yahya Saree said the group fired a hypersonic ballistic missile at the airport.

Iran’s defence minister later told a state TV broadcaster that if the country was attacked by the US or Israel, it would target their bases, interests and forces where necessary.

Israel’s military said several attempts to intercept the missile were unsuccessful.

Air, road and rail traffic were halted after the attack, police said, though it resumed around an hour later.

Follow The World
Follow The World

Listen to The World with Richard Engel and Yalda Hakim every Wednesday

Tap to follow

Yemen’s Houthis have been firing missiles at Israel since its war with Hamas in Gaza began on 7 October 2023, and while most have been intercepted, some have penetrated the country’s missile defence systems and caused damage.

Israel has previously struck the group in Yemen in retaliation and the US and UK have also launched strikes after the Houthis began attacking international shipping, saying it was in solidarity with Palestinians over Israel’s war with Hamas.

Continue Reading

World

Israeli pilots’ protest letter reveals deepening rift over ongoing war in Gaza

Published

on

By

Israeli pilots' protest letter reveals deepening rift over ongoing war in Gaza

The Israeli Air Force is regarded as one of the country’s most elite units.

So, when hundreds of current and former pilots call for an end to the war in Gaza to get the hostages out, Israelis take notice.

This month, 1,200 pilots caused a storm by signing an open letter arguing the war served mainly “political and personal interests and not security ones”.

The pilots' protest letter
Image:
The pilots’ protest letter

Part of the letter translated
Image:
Part of the letter translated

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the original letter was written by “bad apples”.

But Guy Paron, a former pilot and one of those behind the letter, said the Israeli government had failed to move to phase two of the ceasefire deal with Hamas, brokered under US President Donald Trump.

That deal called for a full withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza and the release of all the remaining hostages. Mr Netanyahu continues to argue that the war must continue to put pressure on Hamas.

Mr Paron said the (Israeli) government “gave up or violated a signed agreement with Hamas” and “threw it to the trash”.

More on Benjamin Netanyahu

“You have to finish the deal, release the hostages, even if it means stopping that war,” he argued.

It’s not the first time Israeli pilots have taken up a cause. Many of them also campaigned against Mr Netanyahu’s 2023 judicial reforms.

“In this country, 1,000 Israeli Air Force pilots carry a lot of weight,” Mr Paron added.

“The Air Force historically has been the major force and game-changer in all of Israel’s wars, including this current one. The strength of the Air Force is the public’s guarantee of security.”

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

UN runs out of food aid in Gaza

Anti-government campaign spreads

Now, the open letter campaign has spread to other parts of the military.

More than 15,000 people have signed, including paratroopers, armoured corps, navy, special units, cyber and medics. The list goes on.

Dr Ofer Havakuk has served 200 days during this war as a combat doctor, mostly in Gaza, and believes the government is continuing the war to stay in power.

He has also signed an open letter supporting the pilots and accused the prime minister of putting politics first.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during the annual ceremony at the eve of Israel's Remembrance Day for fallen soldiers (Yom HaZikaron) at the Yad LaBanim Memorial in Jerusalem on Tuesday, April 29, 2025.  (Abir Sultan/Pool Photo via AP)
Image:
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described the authors of the original letter as ‘bad apples’. Pic: AP

He said Mr Netanyahu “wants to keep his coalition working and to keep the coalition together. For him, this is the main purpose of the war”.

A ceasefire could lead to the collapse of the prime minister’s fragile far-right coalition, which is opposed to ending the war.

Threat of dismissal

The Israeli military has threatened to dismiss those who have signed protest letters.

We met a former pilot who is still an active reservist. He didn’t want to be identified and is worried he could lose his job.

“This is a price that I’m willing to pay, although it is very big for me because I’m volunteering and, as a volunteer, I want to stay on duty for as long as I can,” he told us.

The controversy over the war and the hostages is gaining momentum inside Israel’s military.

Read more:
Israel ‘starving, killing’ civilians
Seriously ill Gaza kids arrive in UK
Israeli minister called a ‘war criminal’

It is also exposing deep divisions in society at a time when there is no clear sign about how the government plans to end the war in Gaza, or when.

The renewed war in Gaza over the last year and a half followed deadly Hamas attacks on Israel on 7 October 2023, which killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and saw around 250 taken hostage.

More than 51,000 people have been killed in Gaza during the Israeli military’s response, many of them civilians, according to the enclave’s Hamas-run Ministry of Health.

Continue Reading

Trending