(IntegrityTimes.com) – Former President Donald Trump has promised donors that if he returns to the White House he will clamp down on Pro-Palestine demonstrations and deport foreign protesters, according to participants in a roundtable discussion with Trump on May 14.
The news follows weeks of protests and encampments at university campuses across the country. Some protests even resulted in university leaders making agreements with protesters and promising to consider divestment from Israel and include protesters in the universities’ decision-making. According to the donors, Trump commented on there being many foreign students, and said that as soon as they realize they could face deportation for participating in the protests, they are “going to behave”.
The former president also called the protests a “radical revolution”, which he vowed to resist if he wins in November. He said if he is re-elected he will set back the Pro-Palestine movement by 25-30 years. Despite the promise to deport foreign protesters, Trump has criticized Israel’s actions in Gaza, suggesting in April that the country fired warning shots to “look tough”. President Joe Biden has also reiterated several times his Zionist views and “ironclad” support for Israel, despite warning Tel Aviv against going ahead with the Rafah offensive.
Though facing criticism from both a key voter base and progressives in his party, who claimed he has been complicit in supporting “genocide” in Gaza, Biden introduced a new Antisemitism Awareness Act, which was passed in the House in a vote of 320-91 in May. Though Israel’s actions in Gaza usually attract more criticism from more progressive Democrats than they do from the GOP, Republican Georgia Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene and Florida Representative Matt Gaetz both opposed the bill over concerns it could lead to persecution of Christians. They noted that the “gospel” states that Christ was handed over to his executioners by Jews.
Though Trump has called for progress towards peace and pressed Israel to “finish up” the war against Hamas following their response to the October 7 attacks, he has blasted Biden’s policies on the conflict and reaffirmed his support for the U.S. ally. Trump has even accused the president of siding with Hamas terrorists in response to the White House’s threats to cease military aid to Tel Aviv if the Israeli regime proceeds with the assault on Rafah. Trump condemned “Crooked Joe” for siding with both terrorists and “radical mobs” of protesters, calling him “weak and corrupt” and a threat to global security.
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