United StatesPresidentDonald Trumpon Monday appointed Hamtramck, Michigan, Mayor Amer Ghalib as the next U.S. ambassador to Kuwait. Ghalib, 45, a Yemeni-born Muslim immigrant, has been outspoken in his criticism of Israel. Just hours before his appointment he liked a comment on Facebook that described Jews as "monkeys."
Ghalib made history in 2021 when he became the first Muslim mayor of Hamtramck. Since Hamas' Oct. 7 attack on Israel, he has led several anti-Israel initiatives in the city, including a council vote to boycott companies that do business with what he called “Israeli apartheid.” Following the decision, he stated that “Palestine is fighting for a just cause” and claimed that “the only ethical option for Israel is to admit defeat and leave the land.”
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Amer Ghalib
(Photo: AP/ Carlos Osorio, Reuters/ Brian Snyder)
Ghalib also supported renaming a city street “Palestine Street” as an act of solidarity and cast the deciding vote in favor of the measure. He refused to condemn a local council candidate’s social media post comparing Israel’s actions to the Holocaust and dismissed reports of Hamas militants beheading and sexually assaulting victims on Oct. 7 as “lies spread by the Biden administration to justify its support for Israel’s crimes.”
In an open message at the time to then-President Joe Biden, he said :You fueled (these) kind of hate crimes and Islamophobia by spreading false information and lies (e.g. beheaded babies and raped women)." Ghalib continued: “You make us feel unsafe by trying to justify your support for the criminal and unethical attack on the civilians of Gaza using lies and made up stories. Be a man and apologize for your moral and historic downfall, otherwise the blood of thousands of children and innocent people will be a curse that will follow you to your grave.”
Ghalib also has previously referred to Saddam Hussein, who invaded Kuwait in 1990, as a "martyr."
Ghalib met with Trump in September, praising him as a “man of principle who opposes wars” and helping mobilize Muslim voters ahead of the U.S. presidential election. However, he later said he disagreed with Trump’s proposal for the U.S. to take control of Gaza.
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President Donald Trump with Hamtramck, Michigan, Mayor Amer Ghalib
(Photo: Carlos Osorio/AP)
Trump, for his part, lauded Ghalib on Monday, calling him “the greatest mayor in the world, who won’t let men participate in women’s sports” — a reference to Trump’s opposition to transgender rights. In 2023, Hamtramck’s city council voted to ban pride flags and other social or political flags from government buildings, a move that sparked public backlash.
Announcing the appointment, Trump said Ghalib was chosen in part because of his role in helping secure victory in Michigan, a key battleground state with the highest percentage of Arab American residents in the country.