- Donald Trump wrote on Truth Social that Palestinians were “people like Chuck Schumer.” It isn’t the first time he has made such comments referring to the highest-ranking Jewish elected official in America.
President Donald Trump on Thursday morning doubled down on his plan for a Gaza takeover on the social media platform he owns. In his post on Truth Social, Trump also compared Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer to Palestinians. And it isn’t the first time.
“The Gaza Strip would be turned over to the United States by Israel at the conclusion of fighting,” the president wrote. “The Palestinians, people like Chuck Schumer, would have already been resettled in far safer and more beautiful communities, with new and modern homes, in the region. They would actually have a chance to be happy, safe, and free.”
He continued: “The U.S., working with great development teams from all over the World, would slowly and carefully begin the construction of what would become one of the greatest and most spectacular developments of its kind on Earth. No soldiers by the U.S. would be needed! Stability for the region would reign!!!”
In June, Trump said Schumer, who is the highest-ranking Jewish elected official in America, had “become like a Palestinian” in an interview with Fox News after being asked about the war in the Middle East, The Hill reported. Trump was explaining his belief that Israel didn’t have the support it once had. Still, it appeared to be an attack on Schumer for his earlier criticism on how Israel, and its prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, are handling the war. In March, Schumer gave a speech on the Senate floor where he said he loved Israel, but called for new elections, and insisted that “Palestinian civilians do not deserve to suffer for the sins of Hamas.”
On a later occasion, Trump accused Schumer of being a “proud member of Hamas” at a rally, the Washington Post reported. “Chuck Schumer refused to shake the Israeli prime minister’s hand,” Trump said. “Chuck Schumer has become a Palestinian. Can you believe it? He’s become a proud member of Hamas.” His comment occurred after Netanyahu delivered an address to Congress and Schumer nodded rather than shook his hand.
Schumer’s office did not immediately respond to Fortune’s request for comment.
The latest jab from the president comes after Schumer called on Democrats to vote against his nominees. But the two appear to have had a fraught relationship since Trump’s first term.
Nevertheless, Trump has not walked back his reportedly hastily made proposal to control Gaza that surprised even senior members of his administration, according to the New York Times, which cited people familiar with the matter. But he did clarify in his own way that no American troops would need to be deployed there, a concern that bubbled up after Trump first said the U.S. could take over Gaza and remake it to be the “Riviera of the Middle East.”
