WASHINGTON — Hamtramck Mayor Amer Ghalib said he continues to have the support of President Donald Trump amid scrutiny and delay in the Senate's consideration of his nomination to serve as the U.S. ambassador to Kuwait.

"President Trump had just called me and emphasized during his call on his unwaivering (sic) support to me to serve as the next Ambassador of the United States to the state of Kuwait, and he thanked our community for their support," Ghalib wrote in a Facebook post late Sunday.

"He told me to inform them that he is working tirelessly to accomplish a lasting peace in the Middle East and that we are so close on getting a great deal done that would hopefully end the war there forever."

Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, last month announced that the panel's chairman, Republican Idaho Sen. Jim Risch, had agreed to postpone consideration of Ghalib's nomination as senators await more details about Ghalib's background.

Without mentioning Ghalib's name, Shaheen thanked Risch for agreeing to this delay and said that "when a nominee requires further scrutiny, either for policy reasons or because of their backgrounds, that the Senate must do its job."

Ghalib's nomination has prompted criticism from groups accusing him of antisemitism and of being anti-Israel.

In the post on Facebook late Sunday, Ghalib said he had just received a call from Trump, who "renewed" his support for Ghalib, despite the pushback to his nomination.

"The President admitted during his call that attempts by some parties have hindered this appointment, and assured me that he will not accept to stand before my appointment for this task that I am honored to do to serve this great country, any obstacle, from any party," Ghalib wrote.

The White House didn't comment Monday when asked about Ghalib's description of the call.

“President Trump has been clear that he wants all of his nominees confirmed as quickly as possible ― which has been further hampered by the Democrat shutdown," a White House official told The Detroit News, referring to the lapse in funding that's partially shut down the U.S. government.

Last year, the mayor endorsed Trump for president and campaigned with him in Hamtramck in October at a critical juncture in the 2024 election when the Republican nominee was trying to win over Arab-American voters in battleground Michigan.

At the time of his endorsement, Ghalib said Trump's goal was "to end the chaos in the Middle East and elsewhere."

Trump announced his intent to nominate Ghalib in early March for the ambassador post in Kuwait, saying Ghalib had "worked hard to help us secure a historic victory in Michigan." Months later, he has still not had a hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Meanwhile, Dearborn Heights Mayor Bill Bazzi ― whom Trump nominated to be ambassador to Tunisia weeks after Ghalib's nomination ― had his hearing before the panel last month and is expected to be confirmed by the Senate as soon as this week.

More: Dearborn Heights mayor glides through confirmation hearing to be ambassador to Tunisia

The Republican-led Senate committee said Monday that some nominees require more time to vet.

The panel “has worked at a historic pace to move President Trump’s nominees through our committee," said Risch spokeswoman Suzanne Wrasse. "That pace continues along with our commitment to thorough vetting, and this vetting sometimes means that certain nominations will take longer to process.”

Groups devoted to fighting antisemitism have come out strongly against Trump's pick of Ghalib.

They have highlighted Ghalib's support for the movement to boycott, divest and impose sanctions on Israel and called him a "denier" of sexual violence by the militant group Hamas in its 2023 attack on Israel ― an apparent reference to Ghalib's remarks at a protest following the Oct. 7 attack.

Both the Anti-Defamation League and the grassroots group StopAntisemitism called on Trump to withdraw the nomination months ago, with the ADL saying it "strongly" opposes the pick. The American Jewish Committee expressed similar concerns.

The AJC has said Ghalib's nomination sends "a message that contradicts the administration's strong support for Israel against Hamas terrorism."

StopAntisemitism in a statement last spring also referred to Ghalib's remarks in the wake of the Oct. 7 attack and his past reference to the late Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, who invaded Kuwait, as a "martyr."

Ghalib has said he was a farmer in Yemen before moving to the U.S. and becoming an auto worker and later working in health care. In 2021, Ghalib was elected mayor of Hamtramck, a city of about 28,000 surrounded by Detroit.

Under his leadership, the City Council last year unanimously approved a resolution requiring the city to avoid investing in Israeli and other companies supporting "Israeli apartheid" ― apparently the first city nationally to support the BDS movement.

Ghalib has also publicly criticized Israel’s military campaign against Hamas in Gaza. At a protest in 2023, he called the reports of beheadings and women raped by Hamas during the Oct. 7 attack "lies" and said leaders hadn't shown "any evidence of that."

Ghalib has previously pushed back on headlines about his social media posts calling Saddam Hussein a martyr and mocking Black protesters reacting against the May 2020 death of George Floyd, a Black resident, at the hands of Minneapolis police.

He told The Detroit News last year that the posts, written in Arabic, were years old and had an "inaccurate translation" and had been taken "out of context." "These are old fake new reports of some racist groups," Ghalib said via text.

Multiple news outlets have reported that, hours before his nomination, Ghalib liked a Facebook comment that described Jews as monkeys.

Shaheen last week told the publication Jewish Insider that “there were some questions” about Ghalib to which committee members are awaiting written answers, though she said she did not recall the subject of the questions.

Risch last month declined to comment on Ghalib's nomination to The Detroit News until he had reviewed his file.

In late August, Ghalib met with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller and others at the White House about seeking federal aid for the city and relief from the restrictions on immigration from Yemen, he said.

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