Trump Says He Will Visit Israel ‘Soon,’ Avoids Question About Military Aid
Donald Trump Image by Getty Images.
WASHINGTON — Donald Trump said he would visit Israel soon and dodged a question about whether the United States would continue subsidizing defense assistance to the Jewish state in an interview with an Israeli newspaper.
“I’ll be there soon,” the presumptive Republican nominee told Israel Hayom in an posted Wednesday when asked about reports he would visit the country.
Israel Hayom is a free newspaper owned by billionaire casino magnate Sheldon Adelson, a Republican mega-donor who has said he will back Trump in the November election.
Trump, a real estate magnate, did not say whether he would visit before the Nov. 8 election. An email to the campaign spokesman, Hope Hicks, was unanswered.
He planned to visit in December, but canceled after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu criticized the candidate’s proposal to ban Muslims from entering the United States.
Asked whether the U.S. would continue subsidizing defense assistance to Israel, he said only “We are going to protect Israel.”
Trump has said Israel should pay for U.S. defense assistance. Israel and the United States are currently negotiating an extension of the agreement under which the United States gives Israel $3 billion annually in defense assistance.
A message from our Publisher & CEO Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.
If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
