"Support for Israel in Congress is a thing of the past, compared to its dominance two decades ago," Trump said in an interview with the Daily Caller published Monday. "I will tell you, Israel had the most powerful lobby in Congress, of any organization, company, institution, or country that I have ever seen."
"Today, it doesn't have such a powerful lobby, which is amazing," he continued, emphasizing that in the past, it was impossible to speak badly about Israel and remain in the political arena, "but now, figures like Democratic Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and her progressive allies have changed the course of the debate."
Trump continued: "Israel was the most powerful lobby I've ever seen. They had total control of Congress, and now they've lost it. I'm a little surprised to see that."
These comments came after a Pew Research Center poll conducted last March showed that 53% of American adults view Israel negatively, up from 42% in 2022.
Among Republicans under 50, negative views rose from 35% to 50% over the same period.
Trump insisted that he had been a strong supporter of Israel during his presidency, citing the recent strike against Iran and his recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital. However, he acknowledged that Tel Aviv was losing "public relations credentials," saying that its current actions in Gaza were harming its international standing.
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The US President commented on the October 7, 2023, attack, saying, "There are those who deny it happened. They may win the war, but they don't win the public relations world, and that hurts them," referring to Israel.
Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene recently accused Israel of committing "genocide" in Gaza and called on Trump to cut off US funding to Israel, while former Trump administration strategist Steve Bannon argued that Israel is "not a true ally" of the United States and described Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's camp as untrustworthy.
With American support, Israel has been committing genocide in Gaza since October 7, 2023, including killing, starvation, destruction, and forced displacement, ignoring all international calls and orders from the International Court of Justice to halt it.
This genocide left 63,459 Palestinians martyred, 160,256 injured, most of them children and women, more than 9,000 missing, hundreds of thousands displaced, and a famine that killed 339 Palestinians, including 124 children.
For decades, Israel has occupied Palestine and territories in Syria and Lebanon, and refuses to withdraw from these territories and establish an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital, along the pre-1967 borders.
