The statement, “Why can’t we have nice people from Norway?” might sound harmless at first. However, when President Donald Trump made this statement recently, while discussing his rabid immigration policy, it becomes a deeply damaging message.
The comment is inappropriate, not just because it’s so vile to say, but because the President is using his immense power, in his capacity as President of the United States, to say that certain races are better or more valuable than others.
The harm is immediate.
It belittles non-white immigrants. By setting up “nice people from Norway” against people from other, non-white countries that the President has criticized before, the message is clear. Some immigrants are automatically seen as good, and others are not.
This is what we call in political science nativism, which means preferring native-born inhabitants over immigrants. Nativism is a type of government-supported racism.
It tells immigrants of color, no matter how much they contribute (and we’re not just talking about undocumented immigrants here) that they are seen as second-class citizens or a potential problem, simply because of their background or looks.
The President’s statement also gives comfort and strong words to people who already hold racist views, translating their private bias into a public, presidential-level preference.
This comment echoes a racist past. This desire to pick immigrants based on race or culture is not new; it mirrors the ethno-nationalism that has caused trouble throughout history.
The goal of racist nativists is to create a “purer” national identity by choosing who gets to come in. The U.S. has done this before, through laws like the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 and the Immigration Act of 1924.
The 1924 Act specifically set limits to strongly favor people from northern and western Europe (like Norway) while shutting out people from Southern and Eastern Europe, Asia, and Africa. The goal then was to keep America a mostly white, Anglo-Saxon country.
This recent comment brings back that old, racist way of thinking. It treats American identity not as shared ideas and values (something we were taught since elementary school), but as something based on a person’s race and ancestry.
This language directly supports the beliefs of white Christian nationalism.
This movement argues that America was meant to be a Christian nation for white people of European descent, and that all laws and culture should reflect this. In their view, immigrants from non-white and non-Christian countries are not just foreign; they are a major threat that must be stopped to “save” the nation.
When a national leader suggests favoring immigrants from a country like Norway while speaking badly about those from non-white or non-Christian regions, like when the President disparaged Somalians in America as “garbage people,” they are essentially taking the idea of a racially and culturally “pure” America and making it a preference of the government.
By using the phrase “nice people,” the President sends a subtle but clear signal that supports a policy based on race and religion. This confirms to his supporters that the country’s highest office agrees with their vision of a racial ranking.
The preference for “nice people from Norway” is not an accident. It is a powerful, intentional move that smells of historical prejudice, promotes a harmful and unequal view of the world, and encourages those who want to turn the United States into a nation based on ethnicity alone.
It is deeply wrong because it breaks the basic American promise of equality, replacing it with a presidential preference for one race and nation over others.
This is not Christian. This is not American.
