2017: Trump Said There Were “Very Fine People On Both Sides” Of Charlottesville Violence, Which Included Neo-Nazi Marchers Chanting “Jews Will Not Replace Us.” According to Vanity Fair, “Waiting to condemn the neo-Nazi violence in Charlottesville, Virginia and then saying there were ‘very fine people on both sides’ of a white supremacist rally in which marchers carried Nazi signs and chanted things like ‘Jews will not replace us.’” [Vanity Fair, 10/17/22]
Ivanka Trump Said Donald Trump Read And Kept A Book Of Hitler’s Speeches “My New Order” Near His Bed. According to Business Insider, “According to a 1990 Vanity Fair interview, Ivana Trump once told her lawyer Michael Kennedy that her husband, real-estate mogul Donald Trump, now a leading Republican presidential candidate, kept a book of Hitler's speeches near his bed. ‘Last April, perhaps in a surge of Czech nationalism, Ivana Trump told her lawyer Michael Kennedy that from time to time her husband reads a book of Hitler's collected speeches, My New Order, which he keeps in a cabinet by his bed ... Hitler's speeches, from his earliest days up through the Phony War of 1939, reveal his extraordinary ability as a master propagandist,’ Marie Brenner wrote.” [Business Insider, 9/1/15]
Trump Told John Kelly, “You Fucking Generals, Why Can’t You Be Like The German Generals?” From “World War II” That Were “Totally Loyal” To Hitler. According to the New Yorker, “It turned out that the generals had rules, standards, and expertise, not blind loyalty. The President’s loud complaint to John Kelly one day was typical: ‘You fucking generals, why can’t you be like the German generals?’ ‘Which generals?’ Kelly asked. ‘The German generals in World War II,’ Trump responded. ‘You do know that they tried to kill Hitler three times and almost pulled it off?’ Kelly said. But, of course, Trump did not know that. ‘No, no, no, they were totally loyal to him,’ the President replied. In his version of history, the generals of the Third Reich had been completely subservient to Hitler; this was the model he wanted for his military. Kelly told Trump that there were no such American generals, but the President was determined to test the proposition.” [New Yorker, 8/8/22]
Longtime Trump Exec’s Book Said Trump Hired A German Man And Then Joked In Front Of Jewish Execs That The Man “Still Reminisces About The Ovens, So You Guys Better Watch Out For Him.” According to the Los Angeles Times, “Barbara Res, a longtime executive in Trump’s real estate company, brushed off the idea right up until he was elected president. Now that he’s in the final weeks of his reelection campaign, Res has written a new book titled ‘Tower of Lies’ urging Americans not to give him a second term. The book recounts racist, anti-Semitic and sexist behavior, along with Trump’s ability to lie ‘so naturally’ that ‘if you didn’t know the actual facts, he could slip something past you.’ […] Res wrote that Trump hired a German residential manager, believing his heritage made him ‘especially clean and orderly,’ and then joked in front of Jewish executives that ‘this guy still reminisces about the ovens, so you guys better watch out for him.’” [Los Angeles Times, 10/16/20]
Washington Post Headline: Trump’s Long History Of Trafficking In Antisemitic Tropes. [Washington Post, 10/17/22]
2015: Trump Told The RJC Five Times He Did Not Want Their Money. According to the Washington Post, “During another RJC event in 2015 — at a time when some in the party weren’t behind his candidacy — he repeatedly told those assembled that he didn’t want their money. He did so no fewer than five times. ‘Again, I don’t want your money, therefore you’re probably not going to support me, because stupidly you want to give money,’ he said.” [Washington Post, 10/17/22]
2016: Trump Tweeted An Image Of Hillary Clinton Surrounded By Money With The Words “Most Corrupt Candidate Ever” Inside A Star Of David. According to the Washington Post, “Later in the campaign, Trump tweeted an image of Hillary Clinton surrounded by money with the words ‘Most Corrupt Candidate Ever!’ inside a six-pointed star, the shape of the Star of David. Trump also ran an ad featuring several prominent Jews — George Soros, Janet L. Yellen and Lloyd Blankfein — while warning of ‘global special interests.’” [Washington Post, 10/17/22]
2016: Trump’s Closing Ad Pushed The Idea Of A Global Conspiracy Against America With Images Of George Soros, Janet Yellen, And Goldman CEO Lloyd Blankfein. According to the Times of Israel, “Donald Trump’s latest campaign ad, likely the final one wrapping up nearly a year of campaigning, contains content that has been criticized for having anti-Semitic overtones and implying a vast international Jewish conspiracy behind Hillary Clinton. The two-minute long ad features audio from Trump’s West Palm Beach speech in mid-October, which was criticized by the Anti-Defamation League for ‘rhetoric and tropes that historically have been used against Jews and still spur antisemitism.’ The video appears to go even further, illustrating Trump’s accusation of a conspiracy against the American people with images of prominent Jews. Philanthropist investor George Soros, Federal Reserve head Janet Yellen and Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein, all of whom are Jewish, appear onscreen as Trump inveighs against ‘levers of power in Washington’ and ‘global special interests’ — both considered anti-Semitic dog-whistles.” [Times of Israel, 11/6/16]
2020: Trump Ran An Ad With Bernie Sanders Playing Joe Biden As A Marionette. According to the Times of Israel, “Two left-wing Jewish groups have accused Donald Trump’s presidential campaign of anti-Semitism over an ad showing Bernie Sanders holding Joe Biden as a puppet. The ad, according to screenshots posted on Twitter, has Biden dangling like a marionette from strings that are wrapped around Sanders’ fingers with text reading ‘Joe Biden: The radical left’s puppet.’ Sanders, who challenged Biden from the left in the Democratic presidential primary, is Jewish. IfNotNow and Bend the Arc said the ad perpetuates the anti-Semitic stereotype of Jews nefariously pulling the world’s strings. The accusation that Biden is a puppet of the far left is a frequent one among Trump supporters, who often use images of Sanders to illustrate the argument.” [Times of Israel, 9/16/20]
2021: Trump Said Israel Used To Have “Absolute Power Over Congress.” According to the Washington Post, “And in the December 2021 interview, Trump offered perhaps his most suggestive comments on this front. ‘It used to be that Israel had absolute power over Congress, and today I think it’s the exact opposite,’ he said.” [Washington Post, 10/17/22]
Trump Had A History Of Using Language That Implied American Jews Had Dual Loyalty. According to the Washington Post, “Trump has regularly spoken about American Jews as if Israel is their country, rather than the United States. At a White House Hanukkah party in 2018, Trump said Vice President Mike Pence and second lady Karen Pence go to Israel ‘and they love your country. They love your country. And they love this country’ — the implication being that “this country” is distinct from ‘your country.’ In a September 2020 call after Rosh Hashanah, Trump told American Jewish leaders, ‘We really appreciate you; we love your country also.’ In 2019, he referred to Benjamin Netanyahu as ‘your prime minister’ at a Republican Jewish Coalition event. Trump also regularly referred to his ambassador to Israel, David Friedman, as ‘your ambassador’ while in the company of American Jews. While that could perhaps be understood as him referring to Americans’ ambassador rather than Jews’, Friedman is the only ambassador Trump has used this construction for, according to Factba.se’s compilation of Trump’s public comments.” [Washington Post, 10/17/22]
Trump Has Said American Jews Should Be Dually Loyal To Israel. According to the Washington Post, “Relatedly, Trump has cast American Jews as insufficiently appreciative of his record on Israel, often stating or implying — as he did Sunday — that his lack of support among them is inexplicable. ‘We have people that are Jewish people that are great people — they don’t love Israel enough,’ he said in 2019. He added the same year, ‘Any Jewish people that vote for a Democrat, I think it shows either a total lack of knowledge or great disloyalty.’ When that blew up, Trump doubled down. ‘Jewish people who live in the United States don’t love Israel enough,’ he said in an interview last summer, adding: ‘I believe we got 25 percent of the Jewish vote, and it doesn’t make sense. It just seems strange to me. But I did very well in Florida. I did great in Florida.’” [Washington Post, 10/17/22]
2019: Trump Told A Jewish Audience That They Had “No Choice” But To Vote For Him Or Lose Money Under Democrats. According to the Washington Post, “Numerous Jewish groups castigated President Trump this weekend over his speech on Saturday to the Israeli American Council, accusing him of using anti-Semitic tropes while trying to appeal to Jewish voters. In a 45-minute speech in Hollywood, Fla., Trump sought to convince a Jewish audience that they had ‘no choice’ but to vote for him or else lose money to Democratic presidential contenders’ wealth tax plans. The president, while touting his administration’s relationship with Israel, also said some Jews ‘don’t love Israel enough,’ recalling the time in August that he questioned the loyalty of Jews who vote for Democrats.” [Washington Post, 12/9/19]
John O’Donnell, Trump Associate, Said Trump Would Often Describe Black People As Lazy And Stupid.” According to Donald Trump: A Biography Of The Mogul Turned Presidential Candidate, “For instance, a former Trump associate, John O’Donnell, wrote that Trump would often describe black people as being lazy and stupid; he would bemoan the ‘black guys counting my money.’ He would prefer the ‘short guys that wear yarmulkes.’ It wasn’t only African-Americans who had earned Trump’s derision. Years later, Trump told Playboy that these remarks were ‘probably true.’” [Donald Trump: A Biography Of The Mogul Turned Presidential Candidate, 2015]
O’Donnell Book: Trump Said “I’ve Got Black Accountants At Trump Castle And At Trump Plaza. Black Guys Counting My Money! I Hate It. The Only Kind Of People I Want Counting My Money Are Short Guys That Wear Yarmulkes Every Day.” According to Never Enough: Donald Trump And The Pursuit Of Success, “After years of drama and stress, John O’Donnell would leave Trump’s employ in 1990. When the onetime president of the Trump Plaza Hotel published his tell-all book about his former boss, he presented a picture of an imperious and possibly prejudiced man who seemed indifferent to others. In Trumped!, O’Donnell wrote that his former boss had said, ‘I’ve got black accountants at Trump Castle and at Trump Plaza. Black guys counting my money! I hate it. The only kind of people I want counting my money are short guys that wear yarmulkes every day.’” [Michael D’Antonio: Never Enough: Donald Trump And The Pursuit Of Success, September 2015]
2015: Trump Told The RJC, “Look, I’m A Negotiator Like You, Folks; We’re Negotiators,” And “This Room Negotiates Perhaps More Than Any Room I’ve Spoken To.” According to the Washington Post, “Trump has often spoken about Jewish people in extremely broad strokes, pitching them as people who stick to their own — or at least, should — and who are successful because of their business acumen. During his 2015 speech to the Republican Jewish Coalition, he suggested that those assembled were “negotiators” without parallel. ‘Look, I’m a negotiator like you, folks; we’re negotiators,’ he said, adding: ‘This room negotiates perhaps more than any room I’ve spoken to — maybe more.’” [Washington Post, 10/17/22]
2020: After Speaking To Jewish Leaders In A Phone Call, Trump Said They Were “Only In It For Themselves” And “Stick Together.” According to the Washington Post, “In 2020, The Washington Post’s Greg Miller reported that Trump has said after speaking to Jewish leaders on the phone that they ‘are only in it for themselves’ and ‘stick together’ in ethnic allegiance. And he’s often suggested that ethnic allegiance should extend to him, because of Jewish members of his family.” [Washington Post, 10/17/22]
2015 RJC: Trump Joked “You Just Like Me Because My Daughter Happens To Be Jewish.” According to the Washington Post, “In 2020, The Washington Post’s Greg Miller reported that Trump has said after speaking to Jewish leaders on the phone that they ‘are only in it for themselves’ and ‘stick together’ in ethnic allegiance. And he’s often suggested that ethnic allegiance should extend to him, because of Jewish members of his family.” “You just like me because my daughter happens to be Jewish,” he joked to the RJC in 2015.” [Washington Post, 10/17/22]
2019: Trump Complained That He Didn’t Have Larger Numbers Of Jews Voting For Him In 2016 Because Of His Jewish Daughter And Her Children. According to the Washington Post, “He added in 2019: ‘I saw a poll that in the last election, I got 25 percent of the Jewish vote, and I said here I have a son-in-law and a daughter who are Jewish, I have beautiful grandchildren that are Jewish, I have all of these incredible achievements. I’m amazed that it seems to be almost automatically a Democrat vote.’” [Washington Post, 10/17/22]
2022: Trump Wrote That, “US Jews Have To Get Their Act Together […] Before It Is Too Late.” According to Vanity Fair, “There is so, so much to unpack here, starting with the classic antisemitic dual-loyalty trope, which holds that American Jews who neither live in Israel nor are of Israeli descent should care more about what is going on there than in their own country. Because Trump thinks this, he cannot wrap his mind around the idea that Jewish people in the US aren’t falling all over themselves to support him, even when his 2016 election coincided with an uptick in antisemitism that he not only did nothing to stop but outright emboldened. Then there’s the pitting of apparently ungrateful Jewish people against the ‘wonderful’ and ‘appreciative’ evangelical Christians. Trump’s post conveniently fails to include the uncomfortable fact that a number of evangelical Christians are singularly focused on Israel because they believe it will be the site of the Rapture, wherein Jews who have not converted to Christianity will go to hell. And last but certainly not least, there’s the disturbing threat that ‘US Jews have to get their act together…before it is too late.’ What will happen after it’s too late? Trump doesn’t say.” [Vanity Fair, 10/17/22]