History’s Most Pro-Israel and Pro-Jewish U.S. President

No previous U.S. president has combined such a sweeping set of pro-Israel diplomatic breakthroughs and robust domestic measures against antisemitism as has President Trump. And today’s democrats are seething.

Throughout modern American history, U.S. presidents have varied widely in their support for Israel and the Jewish people. Harry Truman’s recognition of Israel in 1948 was a foundational act, vital but came at the state’s birth. Lyndon Johnson provided critical military aid during the Six-Day War. Richard Nixon resupplied Israel during the 1973 Yom Kippur War but was a crisis response. Ronald Reagan forged a deep strategic alliance but lacked long-lasting breakthroughs.

Trump’s policies in contrast are proactive, paradigm-shifting, and delivering lasting gains without extracting major Israeli concessions. As of now, December 2025, with ongoing peace efforts and school campus reforms, his legacy continues to unfold. A strong case can be made that Donald Trump is the most pro-Israel and pro-Jewish president in American history.

Yet despite Trump’s unparalleled record, left-wing Jewish Americans, prominent Jewish elected officials and reform religious leaders condemn Trump across the board, many labelling him a fascist, a “King,” and dismiss his legitimacy – and often overlook or downplay his efforts, focusing instead on his rhetoric, manner of speaking or unrelated domestic policies. Organizations like J Street and Jewish Democratic groups have criticized Trump’s presidency altogether.

Under previous president Obama, Israel and America’s Jews found nary an ally in him and his administration. With Joe Biden, his advisors and handlers, campus antisemitism exploded – especially following the horrific October 7th, 2023 attack. We’ve learned the Biden administration and many in the Democratic Party in Congress sought to isolate and punish Israel for its defensive response to Hamas, while the party drifted into the dangerous and protracted antisemitic territory we still see today.

Once in office, Trump and his administration have taken unprecedented steps to combat antisemitism in America, particularly the surge on our college campuses following the October 7, 2023, attacks. Previously, in his first term, Trump signed Executive Order 13899 (December 2019), extending Title VI civil-rights protections to Jewish students by adopting the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) working definition of antisemitism, which includes certain forms of extreme anti-Zionism. This provided Jewish students with stronger legal tools to combat campus discrimination at a time when antisemitic incidents were rising sharply.

In his second term, Trump’s efforts intensified dramatically. On January 29, 2025, Trump issued Executive Order 14188, titled “Additional Measures to Combat Anti-Semitism,” directing federal agencies to inventory and deploy all available authorities to address antisemitic harassment in schools and on university campuses. This order built on prior initiatives by emphasizing enforcement against institutions failing to protect Jewish students.  Harmeet Dhillon, Trump’s  Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights, is today working overtime monitoring and enforcing laws protecting religious freedom, free speech, employment law and voting integrity. She has been championing the rights of Jewish students, families and businesses with a fervor.

The Trump administration launched investigations into dozens of universities, including Columbia, Harvard, UCLA, and Berkeley, for not adequately addressing antisemitic incidents. In March 2025, the Department of Education announced measures to end anti-Semitic harassment on campuses, including potential withholding of federal funding. Two months later, settlements were reached with institutions like Harvard, and the Joint Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism issued statements on additional actions taken. A Federal Task Force visited 10 campuses experiencing high levels of antisemitism in February 2025, conducting on-site assessments and recommending reforms. “Project Esther,” a targeted initiative, has been highlighted as part of Trump’s approach to rooting out campus antisemitism through coordinated federal pressure. These actions addressed a crisis where Jewish students faced harassment, exclusion from campus areas, and threats, with Trump’s administration enforcing civil rights laws more vigorously than ever, leveraging federal funding  and revoking visas for foreign students involved in disruptive protests deemed supportive of terrorism.

The results have been tangible: theres’s a palpable decline in campus antisemitic incidents by mid-2025, with universities implementing stricter codes of conduct and enhanced security measures for Jewish student organizations.

Yet left-wing Jewish officials like San Francisco’s Scott Wiener, elected member of California’s state senate, denounce Trump at every turn. After the announced punitive agreement between the feds and UCLA over the university’s failure to rein in rampant bias and harassment of Jewish students, Wiener actually condemned university officials for caving to Trump. Wiener accused Penn and UVA of collaborating with Trump in similar fashion as 1930’s fascists. When Stanford Hospital, Children’s Hospital Los Angeles and Kaiser Permanente announced a pause in youth transgender care, Wiener again went ballistic on Trump, labeling him a fascist.

These non-stop attacks on Trump are not going unnoticed by voters. As CNN, MSNBC, San Francisco Chronicle and New York Times continue their incessant carrying water for the leftest of left democrats, the temperature remains high and violence ready to explode.

Yet no president has matched Donald Trump’s record of concrete, high-impact policy achievements that directly advanced Israel’s security, legitimacy, and diplomatic standing while simultaneously strengthening protections for Jewish Americans against antisemitism. Trump’s actions, spanning both his terms, were bolder, more decisive, and more transformative than those of any predecessor, culminating in significant advancements by late 2025.

Trump’s first term laid a robust foundation for U.S.-Israel relations. The most symbolic and consequential decision was the recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and the relocation of the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem in May 2018. For decades, American presidents of both parties—Clinton, Bush, and Obama—signed waivers delaying the move mandated by the 1995 Jerusalem Embassy Act, citing national security concerns. Trump broke with that pattern. He declared Jerusalem Israel’s capital in December 2017 and opened the embassy the following year. This fulfilled a long-standing bipartisan congressional commitment and affirmed an undeniable reality: Jerusalem has been the seat of Israel’s government, parliament, and supreme court since 1948. The predicted wave of regional violence never materialized; instead, the move bolstered Israel’s international legitimacy and paved the way for other nations to follow suit, with countries like Guatemala and Honduras relocating their embassies shortly after.

Trump followed this with another historic step: recognizing Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights in March 2019. Prior, the Golan had never received formal U.S. recognition, with administrations treating the territory as occupied. Trump reversed that policy, acknowledging Israel’s legitimate security need to control the strategic plateau that overlooks northern Israel.

In 2020, Trump brokered normalization agreements between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Sudan, and Morocco—the first Arab-Israeli peace treaties in a quarter-century, with the the Abraham Accords . Unlike previous agreements with Egypt (1979) and Jordan (1994), these accords were achieved without requiring Israeli territorial concessions or progress on the Palestinian track. The accords have since led to billions in trade deals, joint ventures in fields like renewable energy and cybersecurity, and even cultural exchanges, dramatically expanding Israel’s diplomatic and economic integration in the region.

On Iran, Trump took the hardest line of any modern president. He withdrew the United States from the 2015 JCPOA nuclear agreement, which Israel’s government and much of its security establishment viewed as fatally flawed for allowing Iran an eventual pathway to nuclear capability while enriching the regime through sanctions relief.

In his second term, now approaching completion of his first year in office, Trump continues to build on these achievements. His administration played a pivotal role in brokering a ceasefire in Gaza early October 2025, following failed attempts under Biden. The ceasefire emphasized U.S. support for Israel’s security while pressuring Hamas to release hostages, reflecting Trump’s commitment to Israel’s right to self-defense without undue concessions. Additionally, the administration has maintained a strong stance against Iranian threats, ensuring continued sanctions and diplomatic isolation, further solidifying Israel’s regional position. These recent developments have not only reduced immediate hostilities but also opened doors for potential expansions of the Abraham Accords, with discussions underway for additional Arab nations to normalize ties.

Trump’s actions demonstrate a commitment to results over ideology, suggesting that partisan biases may blind some to his historic contributions, even as some Jewish voices, including leaders who applauded his moral clarity on Hamas, recognize the positives.

Yet, this year, hundreds of rabbis and cantors signed letters condemning Trump’s handling of antisemitism as “abusive” or exploitative, accusing him of using the issue to undermine democracy. Over 550 rabbis criticized his policies in April 2025, claiming they weaponized fears of antisemitism. Those rabbis are wrong. Their perspective ignores the tangible benefits Trump’s policies have delivered for Jewish safety and Israeli security, reversing failed progressive policies under prior administrations.

Such condemnations from prominent democratic Jewish leaders and reform synagogue rabbis are tone-deaf; critics put divisive politics over the religion they purport to support. They fail to admit how Trump’s actions have concretely advanced Jewish wellbeing and safety amid rising global antisemitism. By dismissing Trump achievements despite evidence of reduced threats and stronger alliances, democrats critics risk undermining the very advancements that have made Jewish life in America safer and Israel stronger.