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WASHINGTON (AP) -- The White House is not denying that President Donald Trump used profanity in referring to African nations during a meeting on immigration.

Spokesman Raj Shah says in a statement that while "Certain Washington politicians choose to fight for foreign countries," Trump "will always fight for the American people."

He says Trump wants to welcome immigrants who "contribute to our society, grow our economy and assimilate into our great nation," and will always reject "temporary, weak and dangerous stopgap measures" that he says "threaten the lives of hardworking Americans" and undercut other immigrants.

Trump reportedly questioned why the U.S. would want to admit more people from "s***hole countries." The comment came during a meeting with lawmakers who are trying to forge a deal to protect hundreds of thousands of young people from deportation.

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