The Great Replacement Theory Explained — and Where Trump Stands

We don’t have to tell you that the United States has changed a lot over the decades — it’s pretty obvious. More cultures, religions, and races are mixing and mingling in the land of the free, far different from the times when white people began colonization in the 1600s.

It’s also no secret the influence white people have had over the country — the civil rights movement is just one example, what some call “white privilege.”

But as times evolve and many continue to push the narrative that we are equal regardless of who we pray to or the color of our skin, some believe the integration of others in the U.S. could have a deeper purpose, perhaps even a ploy to reduce white influence.

And that’s where the Great Replacement theory comes in. But what exactly is it?

The Great Replacement theory is a racist conspiracy theory suggesting there’s a plan to diminish white people’s influence. Essentially, it claims white people will be outnumbered by minorities and lose their “power” to influence society.

The theory has since been debunked, according to The Independent, though plenty of white nationalists continue to believe it.

The idea behind the theory could be traced back decades. If you think about it, white people historically used tools like discrimination and segregation to limit the rights of non-white people, perhaps to maintain the upper hand.

But the theory seems to have gotten its official name from French writer and activist Renaud Camus, who wrote Le Grand Remplacement (2021), which is French for “The Great Replacement.”

Camus argued that Muslim immigrants were trying to damage France’s cultural identity and “replace its white Christian population,” according to Britannica.

Since then, the theory has migrated to the U.S., where some believe white influence is being stripped away through immigration, with the idea that the growing immigrant population will eventually outweigh white people.

With projections suggesting that the white adult population in the U.S. could become a “minority white” by 2045, according to The Independent, and Census Bureau data showing that “the White alone adult population (age 18 and over) went from 74.7 percent in 2010 to 64.1 percent in 2020,” some individuals have taken violent action to try to stop it.

The 2022 shooting of mostly Black individuals in Buffalo, N.Y., is one example that some connect to the Great Replacement theory.

We can’t say for sure, but you can interpret Donald Trump's actions as you will. On Sept. 28, 2025, he took to Truth Social with a series of posts, including a repost of a Newsmax segment that accused the Biden administration of allowing immigrants into the U.S. and quickly issuing Social Security numbers to over 2 million migrants so they could vote in the 2024 election.

The Daily Beast reported that the post was captioned, “The Great Replacement is no longer conspiracy theory!” though that caption didn’t appear as of this writing.

The Newsmax segment itself seemed to lean into the theory, claiming millions of non-Americans were allowed into the U.S. to vote and heavily influence politics. Since Trump shared it, perhaps he too is concerned about white influence in America?