Trump Uses the Name ‘Mohammad’ as a Punchline

US President Donald Trump joked about the popularity of the name ‘Mohammad’ while mocking Iran’s presidency. He made the remarks in a speech to supporters at a midterm election campaign rally.

“You know, if you’re unsure about someone’s name in the Middle East, just call them ‘Mohammad’,” Trump said, Reuters reported on Saturday (17 October 2026).

“The odds are about 65 per cent that you’ll be right. ‘Hello, Mohammad.’ I’ve been doing it for years. Never been wrong,” he added.

Trump made the comments while discussing Iran at a rally at Dalton Regional Airport in Georgia, where he was campaigning for Republican candidates ahead of the midterm elections on 3 November.

Trump then pretended to ask several people named Mohammad whether they wanted the job. His supporters did not respond to the joke.

“Iran is the only country where nobody wants to be president,” he said.

Human rights defenders and Muslim advocacy groups have repeatedly criticised Trump for rhetoric they say mocks Muslims, immigrants and ethnic minorities.

He has intensified such rhetoric during the midterm campaign, particularly towards Somali-Americans and Muslims. Those targeted include Abdul El-Sayed, a Muslim Democratic candidate for the US Senate, and Representative Ilhan Omar, a Minnesota Democrat who came to the US as a Somali refugee.

An annual report released earlier this year by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) linked rising Islamophobia in the US in part to Trump’s immigration crackdown and his administration’s response to pro-Palestinian protests during his second term.