President Donald Trump played diplomat and stand-up comedian during his speech at the Knesset, where he celebrated the release of all living hostages from Gaza.
Speaking before the Israeli legislature on Monday, Trump offered a series of off-the-cuff remarks and jokes about corruption scandals, the handsome features of Israel Defense Forces soldiers, his billionaire funders, and his daughter’s marriage.
Some of the bits were light-hearted and observational, such as his bemusement by the Hebrew pronunciation of the Abraham Accords — the 2020 normalization agreement between Israel, Bahrain, Morocco, the United Arab Emirates, and Sudan.
“I like calling it the ‘Avraham Accords’ — ‘Avraham’ — it’s so cool, it’s so much nicer, you know?” Trump told the crowd, to laughter from the lawmakers. “I just don’t want to sound too sanctimonious when I do it.”
At another point, Trump expressed his appreciation for the name of the U.S. military’s Jun. 22 airstrikes on Iranian nuclear facilities.
“Midnight Hammer — boy, that’s a great name for what we did,” he said, smiling.
Gesturing toward IDF personnel in attendance, Trump called the soldiers “central casting” for their good looks.
“Let’s put ’em in a movie,” Trump said. “You could get rich making movies.”
However, some of Trump’s comments went beyond observational and provided glimpses of his relationships with members of the audience.
While praising Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for his leadership during wartime, Trump unexpectedly called on Israeli President Isaac Herzog to pardon “Bibi.”
“Hey, I have an idea — Mr. President, why don’t you give him a pardon?” Trump said to massive applause. “By the way, that was not in the speech, as you probably know. But I happen to like this gentleman right over here, and it just seems to make so much sense.”
Netanyahu is facing three criminal charges for corruption by Israeli courts on allegations that he received illicit gifts.
“Cigars and champagne? Who the hell cares about that?” Trump joked about the allegations before adding, “Okay, enough controversy for the day.”
However, veiled behind Trump’s expressions of support for the Jewish state was an undercurrent of political realism as he fluctuated between optimism and grim warning.
“I’ve always stood for the people of this community, and I always will. I’ll always be with you. I’m always gonna be with you,” Trump said before walking that promise back.
“I guess maybe something could happen to change my mind — somebody that’s really stupid gets into office and wants to do really bad things, but that’s about it,” he continued. “We don’t think we’re gonna have that happen, I hope we’re not gonna have that happen.”
Another subject of Trump’s comments was Miriam Adelson, the Israeli American billionaire who worked with her late husband, Sheldon Adelson, to advocate Israeli interests to the president and contributed massively to his 2024 campaign.
“Look at her sitting there so innocently. Sixty billion in the bank […] and she loves Israel,” Trump said after asking Adelson to stand up.
Trump reflected on Adelson’s husband’s constant requests for meetings, recalling, “He’d call up [and say] ‘Can I come over and see you?’ and I’d say ‘Sheldon, I’m the president of the United States, it doesn’t work that way.’ [But] he’d come in.”
However, Trump’s comments about the Adelsons took an awkward turn when he speculated that the cash-flush political donor is more invested in the fate of Israel than the U.S.
“I’m gonna get her in trouble with this — I actually asked her once, I said, ‘So Miriam, I know you love Israel. What do you love more, the United States or Israel?’ She refused to answer. That might mean Israel,” Trump said.
The comment received a muted response.
Other targets of Trump’s remarks included his daughter, Ivanka Trump, and her husband, Jared Kushner.
While thanking Kushner for his role in finalizing the peace deal, Trump said his son-in-law “loves [Israel] so much that my own daughter converted.”
“I didn’t know this was going to happen,” he remarked before turning to Netanyahu. “And Bibi, you do know this was not in the cards for me.”
“And she is so happy and they are so happy — at least I think they’re happy!” he joked. “If they’re not happy, we have a big story, right? Nah, they have a great marriage.”
Trump did not stay long in Israel, leaving the Knesset and getting on a plane to Egypt.
READ IN FULL: TRUMP SPEECH TO ISRAELI KNESSET AFTER FINAL LIVING HOSTAGES FREED
Trump will co-chair a “Summit for Peace” with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi in Sharm El-Sheikh on Monday, with a press conference scheduled for noon.
The meeting is the first international conference focused on implementing Trump’s peace plan in the Gaza Strip.
