US Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump told Jewish donors earlier this month that if elected in November he would deport anti-Israel protesters and defeat the "radical revolution" he said the campus demonstrations were part of.
According to Monday's Washington Post account of the private fundraiser held in New York on May 14, quoting anonymous participants, the former president also affirmed Israel's right to continue "its war on terror" while listing his achievements for Israel during his term in office.
With regard to the anti-Israel demonstrations and encampments roiling US college campuses in the months since the Hamas-led attack of October 7, Trump said he would expel foreign students who participate in the protests.
“One thing I do is, any student that protests, I throw them out of the country. You know, there are a lot of foreign students. As soon as they hear that, they’re going to behave,” he reportedly said.
Trump also praised the New York Police Department for clearing out the encampment at Columbia University, saying that other cities need to do the same: "It has to be stopped now," he emphasized.
“Well, if you get me elected, and you should really be doing this, if you get me reelected, we’re going to set that movement back 25 or 30 years,” he said, according to donors at the event.
During the meeting, Trump said that he supported Israel's right to continue its war to defeat Hamas in Gaza.
“But I’m one of the only people that says that now. And a lot of people don’t even know what October 7 is,” he added.
The former president ticked off his accomplishments in the White House, including moving the US embassy to the capital Jerusalem and recognising the Golan Heights as part of Israel.
He also warned that "Israel is losing its power" in Washington and specifically on Capitol Hill, calling it "incredible" and arguing that Israel needs his help.
Trump also repeated his frustration at the fact that the majority of Jewish Americans vote for Democrats, including the current president, Joe Biden, who beat Trump in the last election.
“But how can a Jewish person vote for a Democrat, and Biden in particular—but forget Biden. They always let you down,” he said.
Karoline Leavitt, the campaign’s national press secretary, wrote to the Post in email that “When President Trump is back in the Oval Office, Israel will once again be protected, Iran will go back to being broke, terrorists will be hunted down, and the bloodshed will end."
