By Andrew Lapin
President Donald Trump said Congress “is becoming antisemitic” and warned of what he characterized as the fading influence of the “Jewish lobby” and “Israeli lobby.”
He made the remarks in an address Dec. 16 to his Jewish supporters at a White House celebration marking the third night of Chanukah.
During his talk, the president also honored the victims of the recent Chanukah terrorist attack in Australia, and joked with his largest Jewish benefactor, Miriam Adelson, about her bankrolling a third presidential run prohibited by the U.S. Constitution.
“My father [the late real estate developer and businessman Fred Trump] would tell me, ‘The most powerful lobby that there is in this country is the Jewish lobby. It is the Israeli lobby,’” Trump said. “It is not that way anymore. You have a lot of people in your way. They don’t want to help Israel.”
Trump celebrated his own Israel policies, including a recent ceasefire agreement brokered with Hamas that returned hostages from Gaza but has not ended violence in the region. He has vowed to move the ceasefire into its second phase, accounting for Gaza’s postwar governance, in early 2026.
He also warned the room, “You have a Congress in particular which is becoming antisemitic.” He singled out “AOC plus three” — a reference to the progressive House “Squad” led by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-New York) — and Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minnesota), whom Trump says “hates Jewish people.”
Trump also blamed universities for inculcating anti-Israel sentiment, and predicted that Harvard, with which his administration has been embroiled in lengthy settlement talks over antisemitism-related fines, “will pay a lot of money.”
Trump’s audience included Jewish Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Chabad-Lubavitch leader Rabbi Levi Shemtov, Holocaust survivors and Adelson, a conservative pro-Israel mega-donor. He brought Adelson to the podium with him, calling her his “number one” financial supporter.
Adelson, in turn, implied that she and pro-Israel legal scholar Alan Dershowitz believed there would be a way to keep Trump in power beyond his two-term limit.
“I met Alan Dershovitz, and he said, ‘The legal thing, about four more years,’ and I said, ‘Alan, I agree with you.’ So,we can do it. Think about it,” Adelson told a smiling Trump as attendees chanted, “Four more years!”
Quipped Trump: “She said, ‘Think about it, I’ll give you another $250 million.'”
Early in his remarks, Trump turned to the Bondi Beach massacre at a Chabad-hosted menorah lighting.
“Let me take a moment to send the love and prayers to the entire nation, to the people, of Australia and especially all those affected by the horrific and antisemitic terrorist attack — and that is exactly what it is, antisemitic — that took place on a Chanukah celebration in Sydney,” he said. “What a terrible thing. We don’t learn.”
He also reflected on the meaning of the holiday.
“Against overwhelming odds, a small band of Jewish fighters rose up to defend the Jewish people’s right to worship freely,” Trump said. “The miracle of Chanukah has reminded us of God’s love for the Jewish people, as well as their enduring resilience and faith in the face of centuries of persecution, centuries. And it continues.”
Absent from the Chanukah party was the White House’s own menorah, added to its collection in 2022 under President Joe Biden. The candelabra, created by the Executive Residence Carpentry Shop using historic wood from 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, was the first ever in the White House holiday collection.
No direct explanation was provided for the menorah’s absence.
Andrew Lapin wrote this article for the JTA global Jewish news source.
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