(The Hill) — Former President Donald Trump on Thursday bashed the city of Detroit as a “mess” and called it a developing area during a speech in the Motor City.

The former president spoke at the Detroit Economic Club, where he twice appeared to jab at the host city.

In one instance, he was speaking about China being a developing nation.

“Well, we’re a developing nation too, just take a look at Detroit,” Trump said. “Detroit’s a developing area more than most places in China.”

Trump later derisively suggested if Vice President Kamala Harris wins in November, the whole country could end up like Detroit.

“Our whole country will end up being like Detroit if she’s your president. You’re going to have a mess on your hands,” Trump said.

The former president’s comments drew swift backlash from state and city officials.

“Detroit is the epitome of ‘grit,’ defined by winners willing to get their hands dirty to build up their city and create their communities — something Donald Trump could never understand. So keep Detroit out of your mouth. And you better believe Detroiters won’t forget this in November,” Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) posted on the social platform X.

“Detroit just hosted the largest NFL Draft in history, the Tigers are back in the playoffs, the Lions are headed to the Super Bowl, crime is down and our population is growing. Lots of cities should be like Detroit. And we did it all without Trump’s help,” Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan posted on X.

Detroit is the largest city in Michigan, which is a key battleground state in November’s election. A Decision Desk HQ/The Hill average of polls shows Trump and Vice President Harris separated by less than 1 percentage point in the state.

Trump and his allies in 2020 claimed without evidence there was widespread voter fraud in Detroit, which votes heavily Democratic.

President Joe Biden won the city by nearly 94 percentage points in 2020. The former president lost the state of Michigan in 2020 by roughly 155,000 votes.

Thursday was not the first time Trump has criticized a prominent city he was visiting. The former president reportedly called Milwaukee a “horrible city” during a closed-door meeting with House Republicans a month before the city hosted the GOP convention. Trump later said he was only being critical of the city’s crime rate.