Trump’s disastrous judgment

Just two weeks after its launch, Donald Trump’s campaign for another term in the White House is in trouble. Anger in the US and Israel over a pre-Thanksgiving dinner he hosted at his Mar-a-Lago estate for anti-Semitic rapper Kanye West and Holocaust denier Nick Fuentes is justified. So is the apprehension of senior Republicans that Mr Trump is teeing up the party for disaster.

During his time in office, Mr Trump was a powerful supporter of the Jewish people. The Abraham Accords, forging new links between Israel and Arab countries, were a major achievement, as was moving the US embassy in Israel to Jerusalem. His dinner with West and Mr Fuentes could undermine much of that legacy. New York Post columnist Piers Morgan describes Mr Fuentes as “a repellent, hateful, anti-Semitic, Holocaust-denying, racist, misogynist, homophobic white supremacist … who praises Adolf Hitler and Vladimir Putin, supports the Taliban, advocates assaulting women who ‘get out of line’ … who, two days before the January 6 riots on the (US) Capitol, publicly suggested killing legislators who were unwilling to overturn the results of the 2020 election”.

Mr Trump claims he had no idea who Mr Fuentes was. But US Secret Service agents closely scrutinise all guests before they meet the former president. The more credible explanation is that Mr Trump has again shown his inability to keep his distance from unsavoury characters at the heart of the US’s divisive politics. David Friedman, the Orthodox Jew Mr Trump appointed US ambassador to Israel, has told him“you’re better than this”. Two weeks after praising Mr Trump as the most pro-Israel US president ever, the Zionist Organisation of America declared: “His dining with Jew-haters helps legitimise mainstream anti-Semitism and must be condemned.”