Trump claims pro-Israel lobbying groups no longer hold sway in Capitol Hill as they did some 20 years ago.
Published On 12 Aug 2026
United States President Donald Trump took a jab at the dwindling power of pro-Israel lobbying groups in Congress and across Washington’s political spectrum in a pre-taped exclusive recording with the hyper-partisan show America Speaks on the MAGA-friendly network “Real America’s Voice” (RAV).
When asked by host Wayne Allyn Root in the interview that aired on Tuesday about the “problem,” of the “communist colour revolution”, taking over “the biggest cities in America”, Trump replied that the biggest change he had observed over the last decade is “what’s happened to Israel and Jewish people”, adding that if, “you go back 20, 25 years ago, they had the most powerful lobby in Washington. Now, everyone is … if you look at the House … you look at the Democrats in the House … it’s pretty amazing actually. I’ve never seen anything like it.”
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The comments come after a recent survey by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs revealed a dramatic erosion of support for the US ally, with burgeoning opposition from Democrats and signs of polarisation among the Republican base.
This was not the first time the president had conceded Israel’s declining support in US politics. In September 2025, an interview with White House correspondent Reagan Reese of the Daily Caller, a right-wing website founded by former Fox News personality Tucker Carlson, saw Trump acknowledging that he was aware of slumping support for Israel among young Republicans, later explaining to the Caller that Israel’s ironclad endorsement in Congress is now a thing of the past.
In the 42-minute audio clip with RAV, Trump went on to slight Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, the highest-ranking Jewish official in US history and a reliably pro-Israel voice, “Look at Schumer. He’s become virtually a Palestinian,” he told the Caller.
Trump made similar comments in 2025, as well. During a March 2025 Oval Office meeting, Trump told reporters that “Schumer is a Palestinian, as far as I’m concerned,” and reiterated the comment at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner in July. He berated the Democrat whom he claims was once “one hundred percent for Israel”.
At the time, Trump’s derogatory proclamations met with widespread disapproval and drew condemnation from Jewish and Muslim groups over what many saw as a xenophobic slur, regarding the president’s attempts to frame “Palestinian” as a political insult directed at Schumer.
In March 2024, the Senate minority leader had called for a leadership shake-up in Israel, after describing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as “too willing to tolerate the civilian toll in Gaza”.
That was the Jewish-American Democrat’s most vociferous critique of Israel since its genocidal war in Gaza first began in October 2023, having also expressed support for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The veteran senator is usually a staunch defender of Israel.
More recently, Schumer reprimanded the president over his handling of the US-Israel war on Iran, noting that his “rinse and repeat approach … isn’t a strategy”, but a “recipe for utter disaster”, adding, “we keep moving backward … it’s incredible what a fiasco this war is.”
