The ‘threat from within’ this White House

We are deeply concerned about the speech given by Vice President JD Vance on Friday at the Munich Security Conference, where he conveyed a vision for abandoning Ukraine, capitulating to Russia, and aligning with the European far-right. The words of the vice president were so deeply troubling that some in the audience described themselves as “gobsmacked” and Vance’s words as “utterly, utterly frightening.”

While in Munich, Vance also met with the head of Germany’s far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) Party, Alice Weidel, who recently denigrated Holocaust remembrance as a ‘guilt cult.’ Vance’s meeting follows Elon Musk’s remarks to the AfD last month, encouraging them to ‘move beyond’ the horrors of World War II. This, despite the fact that the AfD has been under observation by Germany’s domestic intelligence agency for suspected extremism, a leader has twice been fined by a German court for using a Nazi slogan, and additional party leaders have said antisemitic, anti-Muslim, and anti-democratic statements.

The day after Vice President Vance spoke, the German Chancellor rebuked him, warning that a real commitment to the promise of “never again” also applies to parties like the AfD, which has downplayed the horrors of the Holocaust. He rebuked American interference in Germany’s elections on February 23, adding “that is not done, certainly not among friends and allies.”

We are horrified that American leaders would normalize, let alone embrace, far-right extremists at home and abroad. The White House’s alignment with the German far-right is yet more evidence – on top of Trump’s pardoning and releasing from jail dangerous extremists in the United States and appointing officials with white nationalist ties to national security positions – that extremists and antisemites have an ally in Donald Trump.

As the American people face real challenges, the Trump White House is embracing far-right extremists in the United States and globally, which is a direct threat and danger to the Jewish people. In his remarks in Munich, Vance warned Europe of a so-called ‘threat from within.’ We agree there is a ‘threat within’ and believe that threat is emanating from this White House.

In solidarity,

Halie Soifer

CEO, Jewish Democratic Council of America