[782][783] In September 2016, amid pressure, he acknowledged that Obama was born in the U.S.[784] In 2017, he reportedly expressed birther views in private.[785]
According to an analysis in Political Science Quarterly, Trump made "explicitly racist appeals to whites" during his 2016 presidential campaign.[786] In particular, his campaign launch speech drew widespread criticism for claiming Mexican immigrants were "bringing drugs, they're bringing crime, they're rapists".[787][788] His later comments about a Mexican-American judge presiding over a civil suit regarding Trump University were also criticized as racist.[789]

Trump answers questions from reporters about the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville.
Trump's comments on the 2017 far-right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, condemning "this egregious display of hatred, bigotry and violence on many sides" and stating that there were "very fine people on both sides", were widely criticized as implying a moral equivalence between the white supremacist demonstrators and the counter-protesters.[790][791][792][793]
In a January 2018 Oval Office meeting to discuss immigration legislation, Trump reportedly referred to El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, and African nations as "shithole countries".[794] His remarks were condemned as racist.