Whose side are we on?
Tomorrow evening, Donald Trump will give the first joint session address to Congress of his second term.
Since he assumed office, Trump has illegally dismantled government agencies, handed over the federal checkbook to Elon Musk, violated the Constitution and numerous laws and norms, weakened our democracy and freedom of the press, enabled and emboldened extremists and antisemites, attacked immigrants and others, and hurt our economy. The price of eggs is at a record high.
Friday’s Oval Office meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was an embarrassment for our country. Trump and Vance did Putin’s bidding while attempting to belittle and smear Zelenskyy.
As the Kremlin put it: Trump and Vance’s stark foreign policy shift “largely coincides” with Russia’s vision.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ordered U.S. Cyber Command to halt offensive cyber operations against Russia as “part of a larger re-evaluation of all operations against Russia.”
Whose side is Trump on?
Until Trump returned to the White House, the United States was the strongest democracy in the world. In the aftermath of WWII, we helped to build and defend the world order. Today, our foreign policy has done a complete 180, and we’re aligned with Russia as opposed to our European allies and NATO.
Jewish Americans know which side we’re on. And it’s not the side of Russia and Trump. Defending democracy has been the number one issue for Jewish Americans for the last several election cycles, which is why our community firmly rejected Donald Trump at the ballot box and is why we continue to oppose him.
Trump does not have the mandate he claims, and his public support continues to wane. A majority of the country says the state of the union is not strong today. Most Americans think Trump’s cuts to the federal government are doing more harm than good. And this is only the beginning. Congress has not yet passed Trump’s budget, which slashes Medicaid to fund an extended tax cut for billionaires.
Tomorrow, Trump will lie about his support from the public, he will lie about what he has done, and he will lie about being on the same side as the American people.
But we know the truth.
We look forward to seeing you on Wednesday.
In solidarity,
Sam Crystal
Chief of Staff, Jewish Democratic Council of America