Former President Donald Trump told donors in New York this month that he denounced the anti-Israel protests erupting on U.S. college campuses as a “radical revolution” and vowed to expel all international students involved if re-elected.
“One of the things I do is [with] “We will deport any students who protest. You know, we have a lot of international students,” Trump told the group during a May 14 roundtable discussion. According to the Washington Post.
“As soon as they hear that, they’re going to be on their feet,” the potential 2024 presidential challenger added.
During the meeting, at least one of the donors reportedly lamented the possibility that one of the student protesters might one day rise to political power.
But Trump, 77, promised donors he would fight to end the “radical revolution” on college campuses, declaring that “it must stop now,” according to The Washington Post.
In a statement to The Washington Post on Monday, Trump campaign spokeswoman Caroline Leavitt blamed President Biden for empowering the protesters.
“Joe Biden is siding with far-left Democrats like Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib, empowering anti-Semitic protesters who threaten to destroy our college campuses and undermine our democracy,” Leavitt said.
“President Trump stands with Jewish Americans and the American people, and will not tolerate terrorist sympathizers on college campuses.”
The 45th president also publicly vowed to crack down on anti-Israel protesters, just weeks after a Hamas surprise attack on Oct. 7, 2023, left some 1,200 Israelis dead. Trump promises deportation “Resident foreigners” taking part in a “pro-jihad protest.”
“If you hate America, if you want to abolish Israel, if you sympathize with jihadists, we don’t want you in our country, you can’t come into our country,” Trump told the Republican Jewish Coalition in Las Vegas in October.
“We will revoke the student visas of Hamas supporters on university campuses and all foreign visas who take part in pro-jihadist protests,” he continued. “In 2025, we will find you and we will kick you out of the country.”
During his first term, Trump forged a close relationship with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, moving the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem and helping broker the Abraham Accords.
But after leaving the White House, the former president grew increasingly uncomfortable with Netanyahu in the public eye, complaining that Netanyahu had “let us down” shortly before the U.S. killed top Iranian general Qassem Soleimani in 2020.
In a wide-ranging interview Last month’s issue of Time magazinePresident Trump revealed his feud with Prime Minister Netanyahu and claimed that Israel had withdrawn from a mission to kill Iran’s top commander.
“It was supposed to be a joint [attack] “Then all of a sudden I was told that Israel wasn’t doing it,” he told Time magazine. “I wasn’t happy about that. It was something I’ll never forget. And it showed me something.”
Biden, 81, has also clashed with Netanyahu over concerns that Israel has not done enough to minimize civilian casualties in its war with Hamas.
Meanwhile, President Trump expressed concern about the way Israel is conducting its war against Hamas, claiming that America’s allies are “totally losing the PR war.”
“Every night they put out videos of buildings collapsing. They shouldn’t be putting out those videos. They’re losing the PR war because they’re doing it,” Trump complained to conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt last month.
“They have to finish what they started, and they have to finish it fast, and we have to get on with life.”
But despite his concerns about Netanyahu, Trump reportedly told donors at a roundtable in New York this month that he would support Israel if returned to the presidency.
