Praising Dictators Abroad & Emulating Them At Home

This week’s events elicited reactions among American Jews that span the range of human emotion. On Monday, we wept with joy as all of the living hostages were reunited with their loved ones in Israel after 738 days in Gaza. We applauded the deal reached by President Trump that ensured their return. We mourned with the families of those lost. We are concerned about the future of the ceasefire, which Hamas has already violated, given its refusal or inability to return all the deceased hostages to Israel.

We watched with interest as President Trump addressed the Knesset, and cringed at his self-aggrandizing remarks. Only Donald Trump could make this joyous and historic moment about himself; his hyperbolic claims of forging a regional peace that has evaded civilization for hundreds or thousands of years are patently false. The ceasefire agreement reached between Israel and Hamas is historic and important, though it is also tenuous and incomplete.

Trump deserves praise for ensuring the return of the living hostages and presenting a framework for peace that includes an end to the war. He does not deserve the effusive praise he’s given himself, however, given the limitations of what has actually been achieved and his reliance on autocrats and autocratic policies to reach his goals.

The most revealing part of Trump’s Middle East trip was in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, where Trump heaped praise on nearly every dictator, while offering muted acknowledgment of our democratic allies and partners. He lauded the Turkish President Erdogan as “tough,” called Egyptian President el-Sissi a “strong leader,” and described Hungarian Prime Minister Orbán – who has an “antisemitism problem” – as likable. In a shockingly candid moment, Trump conceded, “I know a lot of people don’t agree with me [re: Orbán], but I am the only one that matters.”

Donald Trump wasn’t admiring these leaders’ ability to forge regional peace; he was expressing admiration for their ability to quell political dissent at home.

Since returning from the Middle East, Trump has ramped up his efforts to retaliate against, silence, and disenfranchise his perceived political opponents. This week included two additional indictments of individuals on Trump’s “enemies list” – New York Attorney General Letitia James and former Trump National Security Advisor John Bolton. At the Pentagon, there was a serious crackdown on freedom of the press. The Supreme Court appears poised to drastically weaken the Voting Rights Act, which – through additional GOP gerrymandering – may impact the 2026 midterm elections. Trump and Republicans falsely portrayed tomorrow’s “No Kings” protests as “hate America” rallies tied to terrorists.

In one of the most chilling moments of the week, Trump’s leading advisor, Stephen Miller, declared, “you can’t love your country and then fight President Trump” while speaking about Illinois Governor JB Pritzker’s efforts to resist Trump’s unlawful military takeover of Chicago. Some news for Miller – yes, you can.

Love of country should not mean being forced into submission. The assertion that Americans must accept or comply with Trump’s agenda as a measure of patriotism is not only wrong, it’s also a sign of what’s to come under his authoritarian agenda. The idea that we must blindly follow and comply with the demands of any leader is antithetical to our Jewish values, and it’s a direct threat to our democracy.

We can hold many emotions at once. We can love our country and disagree with our president. We can appreciate Trump’s efforts to bring home the hostages and oppose his policies at home. It’s because of our love of country that some of us will protest this weekend, because – just as Israelis have done – when we oppose our government’s policies, we have the right to make our voices heard by taking to the streets.

We are not (yet) Egypt, Turkey, or Hungary, where the leaders that Trump admires have silenced, threatened, and even jailed nearly all political opposition. America is still a democracy – albeit a fledgling one – and we have to (peacefully) fight to keep it that way. Join us.