Trump to participate in Oct. 7 anniversary event on Monday
The event will gather Jewish community leaders at Trump’s Doral golf resort to ‘honor the 1,200 lives lost’ and ‘remember the victims of antisemitic violence'
Former President Donald Trump will participate in an event in Florida on Monday to commemorate the one-year anniversary of Hamas’ Oct. 7 terror attack, his campaign announced on Wednesday.
The event will gather Jewish community leaders at Trump’s Doral golf resort “to honor the 1,200 lives lost” in the attack and to “remember the victims of antisemitic violence that has continued to afflict communities worldwide,” according to a campaign statement.
Representatives for the Trump campaign did not immediately respond to requests for additional details on the commemoration, and an invitee told Jewish Insider that he had only been informed of the event on Tuesday.
The upcoming ceremony is among several recent gatherings concerning Israel and antisemitism that Trump has attended as his campaign seeks to court Jewish swing voters in a closely contested race with Vice President Kamala Harris.
But Trump has also faced criticism from members of both parties for his hostile rhetoric toward Jews who support Democrats as well as his lack of clarity on major developments in the Middle East — including Israel’s killing last Friday of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.
Trump has repeatedly said that Hamas’ attacks “would never have happened” if he were president, while accusing Harris of enabling Iran-backed proxy groups in the region, as his campaign reiterated in its statement on Wednesday.
“What we have witnessed in the past year is a battle between the forces of good versus evil,” the Trump campaign said. “Since the disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan, we have witnessed nothing but global chaos, as evidenced by Iran’s horrific missile attack on Israel just this past week.”
The Harris campaign has not yet publicly shared any plans for commemorating the Oct. 7 attacks.