"I'm the president's worst nightmare" says Middle Eastern RuPaul's Drag Race contestant

Drag Queen DD Fuego, who identifies as Middle Eastern-Mexican-American, issued a defiant message to US President Donald Trump ahead of Season 18 of RuPaul's Drag Race on which they are a contestant.

Donald Trump is leading the worst crackdown on hispanic and Middle Eastern immigrants in U.S. history.

"I'm Mexican-American, queer, Middle Eastern, and from New York. I'm the president's worst nightmare" said DD Fuego in the promotional 'Meet the Queens' video for season 18 of RuPaul's Drag Race, released on Tuesday.

"I look like one of his future wives," DD Fuego joked. The drag queen, who was born and raised in Mexico, has not clarified her Middle Eastern heritage. But millions of Levantine Arabs immigrated to Latin America in the 19th and 20th centuries.

DD Fuego will compete on season 18 of RuPaul's Drag Race, which is set to air in January 2026. The show sees drag queens compete in challenges which test their sewing, comedy, performance, and other skills. The series, which has won 39 Emmy Awards, has inspired over a dozen international spin-offs, including in the UK, Mexico, and Thailand.

DD Fuego joins a handful of drag race contestants with Middle Eastern heritage. Aja was the Middle-Eastern heritage contestant first to compete in the show, appearing in season 9 of RuPaul's Drag Race, as well as seasons 3 and 10 of the show's All Stars spin-off. Aja, whose mother is Egyptian-American, was adopted by Puerto Rican and Trinidadian parents.

Competing in the 12th season, Jackie Cox was the first contestant to discuss her Middle Eastern heritage on the show. Jackie Cox, who was born in Canada to Iranian parents, wore a red, white and blue hijab and caftan for the show's 'Stars and Stripes' runway as a statement against Donald Trump's Muslim ban. Jackie Cox said the outfit emphasised that “you can be Middle Eastern, you can be Muslim, and you can still be American.”

The outfit was met with praise from most of the judges, including 'style superstar' Carson Kressley, who called the look "beautiful and touching." However, guest judge Jeff Goldblum was less impressed, asking Jackie Cox, “Is there something in that religion that is anti-homosexuality and anti-woman? Does that complicate the issue?”

Jackie Cox replied, “I have my own misgivings about how LGBT people are treated in the Middle East, and at the same time, I am one. But when the Muslim ban happened, it really destroyed a lot of my faith in this country, and it really hurt my family.”

Jackie Cox went on to win a Lip Sync for Your Life, a battle in which the week's bottom two queens compete in a lip sync to avoid elimination, to Katy Perry's 'Firework' while wearing a headscarf. 

Middle Eastern drag queens have also appeared on international versions of Drag Race. Halal Bae, who is of Egyptian and Palestinian descent, appeared on season 3 of Canada's Drag Race. After she was announced as a contestant, Halal Bae tweeted, "I didn't come to slay, I came to free Palestine." Etcetera Etcetera became the first queen of Lebanese descent to appear on the show when she competed in the first season of Drag Race Down Under.

DD Fuego will appear on season 18 of RuPaul's Drag Race, which will air from 2 January at 8 pm on MTV in the US. The season will be available on WoW Presents+ internationally.