Trump’s loyalty pledge for American Jews

Donald Trump’s strategy is to “flood the zone.” The pace and volume of his actions are intended to overwhelm. While this week’s flood of news may have felt more like a tsunami, a clear truth has emerged – Donald Trump is willing to endanger the American people to pursue his agenda, and this includes American Jews.

CUTS & CONFUSION

On Monday, the Trump administration announced a freeze of all grants, loans, and other federal assistance, which impacts nearly every American. A judge temporarily halted part of the White House decree because it’s unconstitutional. News of the freeze has already impeded access to Medicaid, Social Security, and Medicare benefits, among other essential government funding programs, including the grants that fund security at synagogues, JCCs, and Jewish day schools.

Once Republicans voiced concern with the initial order, given its devastating impact, the White House rescinded its guidance. But make no mistake – the sweeping budgetary freeze remains in place, and massive confusion continues.

Now is the time to voice your concern with your members of Congress – it makes a difference, as we’ve seen with recent Republican pressure on the White House. Write to your members of Congress OPPOSING TRUMP’S BUDGET FREEZES. These spending cuts impact us all and violate the Constitution, which gives Congress – not Donald Trump and Elon Musk – the power of the purse.

WHAT’S DEI GOT TO DO WITH IT?

The White House memo explaining the budget freeze cited the objective of ending “Marxist equity, transgenderism, and green new deal social engineering policies.” But what does Trump’s war against Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) really mean?

It means that at least one federal agency has now paused observances of MLK Day, Women’s History Month, and Holocaust Remembrance Day, among others. More broadly, it means that Trump has ended programs aimed at combating discrimination, including racism, sexism, xenophobia, antisemitism, homophobia, and the targeting of persons with disabilities in the workplace.

Within hours of the horrific plane crash in DC that tragically killed 67 people on Wednesday, Trump baselessly claimed that DEI hiring and initiatives had lowered air traffic safety standards. One cannot talk about aviation safety without acknowledging that just last week, Trump eliminated the Aviation Security Advisory Committee, removed the head of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) Administration, and pushed out the head of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

In his press conference, Trump callously claimed – as crash victims were being pulled from the Potomac River – that “we want somebody that’s psychologically superior” doing air traffic control. This, of course, doesn’t take into account the psychological impact of Trump attacking and firing many of those responsible for aviation safety, and of course, we do not yet know the actual cause of the devastating crash.

We mourn with the families and friends of those tragically lost in the crash and await the results of the investigation. If only we had a president who could say the same.

TRUMP’S LOYALTY TEST FOR JEWS

Also this week, Trump issued an executive order on antisemitism. In the fact sheet that accompanied the EO, President Trump states, “My promise to Jewish Americans is this: With your vote, I will be your defender, your protector, and I will be the best friend Jewish Americans have ever had in the White House.”

This transactional requirement from Trump means he’ll give us safety if we give him our vote. In fact, President Trump’s pledge to “defend” and “protect” American Jews is now officially contingent on our vote – there’s a White House memo to prove it. Yet again, Trump has said the quiet part out loud – he will only support Jewish Americans if we pledge our loyalty to him. He scapegoated “the Jewish people” during the election for insufficient loyalty, and he’s implicitly doing it again.

Donald Trump is not a defender of all Americans – just those who are “loyal” to him – and Jewish Americans are no exception. 

We’re going to continue to be “disloyal” because Trump’s policies and rhetoric are a direct threat to our community and values. His demand of loyalty in and of itself is antithetical to Judaism – we do not pledge loyalty to a single person or president; we’re loyal to our country and our values.

Amid the chaos of this week, one singular truth has emerged – Donald Trump is not acting in the best interests of the American people and Jewish Americans, including his supporters. He says he’s “defending” Jews who vote for him, but he just cut essential security funding for our synagogues and Jewish institutions right after he pardoned, commuted the sentences of, and released from jail dangerous extremists and white supremacists who want to do us harm.

Help us make sure every Jewish American who refuses to take Trump’s loyalty pledge is a part of the JDCA community and movement. Check out TrumpWatch to take action.

Thank you for your partnership and support.

Shabbat shalom,

Halie Soifer

CEO, Jewish Democratic Council of America