The Meaningless Motives Within Donald Trump

All throughout the Biden presidency, and especially since the election in November, I have observed a certain degree of moral confusion among some of my readers and friends. (I will leave the unbashful gaggle of haters aside, for the moment.)

A supposition has been made about my apparent incapacity to size a person up, to intuit the makeup of their soul, to appreciate what lies within their heart, to wise up to their insidious, selfish motivations.

And that person of ill-disguised ill-repute is, of course, Donald Trump. All sorts of people—mostly mere strangers, but also close friends, faithful colleagues, and even former professors—seem surprised not so much that I abandoned the Democratic Party and registered as an Independent, but that I have somehow allowed myself to be deceived by President Trump.

Far worse than party affiliation, my essays are, apparently, dead giveaways. In digital black and white, I am charged with applauding Trump’s handling of the antisemitic plague that has descended over the United States. I have dared to note, favorably, a dramatic foreign policy shift in America’s commitment to Israel. But it is undeniably true: The Jewish state is now being treated as a strategic ally that shares the same democratic values and maniacal enemies as the United States.

Breaking with Biden’s progressives within the Democratic Party, Trump has made short order of the slander that Israel is a genocidal, settler-colonial state that stole Arab land. As anyone who knows history and can resist the odious charms of antisemitism is aware, Israel is a widely diverse, openly liberal society. Jewish nationhood began 1,500 years before the birth of Islam. And no Arab nation ever existed on the land now called Israel.

Moreover, Israel no longer serves as a pawn to appease Iran, the purveyors of political correctness, and the growing Islamist fiefdoms within the United States like in Patterson, New Jersey and Dearborn, Michigan.

There are many examples of Trump’s fealty to Jews, for which he regularly fails to receive either the credit he deserves, or the votes of Jews themselves. Dating back to his first administration, he moved America’s embassy in Israel to its capital in Jerusalem. He recognized Israel’s annexation of the Golan Heights. Trump decertified the Iran Deal and reimposed sanctions. He unveiled the Abraham Accords. Perhaps most importantly, he assessed Palestinians honestly and concluded that they are far more interested in seeking Israel’s destruction than in building their own state.

There are many examples of Trump’s fealty to Jews, for which he regularly fails to receive either the credit he deserves, or the votes of Jews themselves.

Now we come to his second term, and he seems to be doubling down. He has directed resources to combat antisemitism on city streets and at college campuses. He is safeguarding the civil rights of Jews through Title VI defunding. He has quelled pro-Hamas intimidation by punishing antisemitic practices on campuses. Glorifying terrorists, blocking Jewish students from attending classes, obstructing the entrances of synagogues, vandalizing Jewish businesses—all now come with consequences.

And jihadists on student visas are being sent home without a diploma—as if sheepskin was the trophy they came for in the first instance.

Regardless of how one feels about Trump, he has an outstanding resume of civic accomplishment on behalf of Jews. And, yet, during all three of his elections, Democrats referred to him as the second coming of Hitler. Does anyone recall what the first coming looked like? Now we are being told that his White House staff and inner circle, featuring Elon Musk, are operating pursuant to the Third Reich’s playbook.

That’s why, I suppose, despite the bounty of benefits to American Jews and Israelis, some are mystified how I apparently missed the darker reality: Trump has no real affection for Jews. He has not a single Semitic, humanistic bone in his body. Everything he does is to advance an agenda of self-aggrandizement, personal wealth and political power.

Even if true, so what?

It is no secret that Trump is terribly flawed— hopelessly impulsive, undisciplined, reckless and vindictive. He’s also not completely sold on representative democracy.

And, yet, at this time in history, I am not ashamed to thank him for protecting the Jewish people. When it comes right down to it, I would like to see fewer dead Jews. And reassurances that Israeli teenagers won’t be gangraped by Islamist savages would be nice, too.

Saving Jewish blood is my thing. For others, pickleball is a priority. Looks like a fabulous game, but I am sticking with a safer environment for Jews and the certainty that the United States has Israel’s back.

Saving Jewish blood is my thing. For others, pickleball is a priority.

I couldn’t care less whether Trump actually likes Jews. Jews don’t like Jews. Is there any better evidence of that self-hatred than the political careers of Bernie Sanders, Chuck Schumer and Adam Schiff?

You want to support Jewish Americans at home and Zionism in the Middle East? Cast your votes for John Fetterman, Lindsey Graham, Ted Cruz and Tim Scott. I suspect none are circumcised. And they managed to get this far in life without a bar mitzvah. But for now, as a registered Independent who cares about Jewish existence, they get my vote.

As for Trump’s Master Race of advisors, I will be the first to object the moment Auschwitz is reconstructed beside an existing Tesla plant. If such an improbable cabal of Nazis are truly lying in wait in the West Wing, then Trump must have already made peace that the Jews in his family, which include three grandchildren, and the many who serve him faithfully in the administration, are in store for the Final Solution, Take Two.

Trump’s financial motive is irrelevant to me. Where is the progressive cynicism that Barack Obama, a man who never had a real job before running for public office, now possesses one of the largest estates on Martha’s Vineyard?

How did an avowed socialist like Bernie Sanders acquire a net worth of $15 million? Elizabeth Warren is sitting on an $82 million stock portfolio. We hear these nouveau rich legislators loudly lambast capitalist excesses and social inequities. Are they planning to redistribute their wealth among the poor in their constituencies? Apparently, having mixed motivations is not necessarily disqualifying or presumptively evil.

All politicians have personal motives. But few achieve tangible results for the electorate they serve.

All politicians have personal motives. But few achieve tangible results for the electorate they serve. The Kennedy brothers were motivated by sleeping with Marilyn Monroe. Somehow that didn’t subvert more worthy aspirations, like bringing civil rights to the Deep South and keeping the Cold War below temperature.

As things are looking so far, expect me to book a room at the Trump Mediterranean Hotel and Casino in Gaza the moment it opens.

Thane Rosenbaum is a novelist, essayist, law professor and Distinguished University Professor at Touro University, where he directs the Forum on Life, Culture & Society. He is the legal analyst for CBS News Radio. His most recent book is titled “Saving Free Speech … From Itself,” and his forthcoming book is titled, “Beyond Proportionality: Israel’s Just War in Gaza.”