The vast majority of American Orthodox Jews voted for Donald Trump for president in November 2024. (Perhaps 20 percent or slightly more of American Orthodox Jewish voters did not vote for Trump.) What are some resources from Jewish Tradition that might help explain an apparently high level of enthusiasm for Trump?
This source sheet is not intended to justify Orthodox Trumpism. Nor is it intended to disparage Orthodox Jews who support Donald Trump. This sheet attempts to make sense of Orthodox Trumpism with reference to texts from Jewish Tradition (texts with which any serious student of the tradition must engage) and to concerns or sensibilities that many Orthodox Jews have.
We do not claim that Orthodox supporters of Donald Trump would agree that the sources included here reflect their personal views. An Orthodox supporter of Donald Trump may read this source sheet and feel that much or most of it does not apply to him or her. Since our effort is to understand, we welcome the opportunity to refine this sheet as needed.
A basic assumption of this collection is that Donald Trump's presidency--particularly his second term--represents a novel phenomenon in the history of the United States of America. What elements of Orthodox Jewish society support an embrace of this novelty? If one rejects the proposition that 'Trump 2.0' is a 'new thing,' then the question loses its cogency: voting for Trump would be as interesting or uninteresting as voting for Biden, Hilary Clinton, Obama, George W. Bush, etc.
Conventional responses cannot meet the needs of the moment
וַיֹּ֗אמֶר אַסְתִּ֤ירָה פָנַי֙ מֵהֶ֔ם אֶרְאֶ֖ה מָ֣ה אַחֲרִיתָ֑ם כִּ֣י ד֤וֹר תַּהְפֻּכֹת֙ הֵ֔מָּה בָּנִ֖ים לֹא־אֵמֻ֥ן בָּֽם׃
He said:
I will hide My countenance from them,
And see how they fare in the end.
For they are a treacherous breed,
Children with no loyalty in them.
For many Orthodox Trumpists, a host of enemies is seen to be arrayed against God and the Jewish people.
- Enemies who are seen as rejecting the values that many feel are explicit or implicit in the Creation accounts in the Bible (particularly in the first chapters of Genesis).
- Enemies who are seen as rejecting God
- Enemies who are seen as opposing God's will on topics such as gender identity and sexuality.
- Feminists: Those who recognize that women are people, on the same level as men.
- Homosexuals and those who recognize homosexuality
- Trans and Non-binary people and those who recognize that gender identity is nuanced
- Enemies who permit abortion (many Orthodox Jews feel that they must stand behind evangelical Christian and Catholic views about the nature of the fetus, even where Jewish rabbinic and biblical tradition differs
- Enemies who are perceived as hating white people (and, hence, as hating Jews, who often view themselves as white people or at least see themselves as 'white-adjacent')
- Antisemites who applaud the October 7 attacks on Israel or seek the destruction of the State of Israel or of the Jewish people...
- Note that this becomes complicated when supporters of Trump express antisemitic views.
In the face of such perceived enmity, a measured defense of tradition may be seen as insufficient by many Orthodox Jews. Pluralism itself may be seen as unbearable. Many may feel that something more radical is called for.
לִ֤י נָקָם֙ וְשִׁלֵּ֔ם לְעֵ֖ת תָּמ֣וּט רַגְלָ֑ם כִּ֤י קָרוֹב֙ י֣וֹם אֵידָ֔ם וְחָ֖שׁ עֲתִדֹ֥ת לָֽמוֹ׃
(JPS 1985:) To be My vengeance and recompense,
At the time that their foot falters.
Yea, their day of disaster is near,
And destiny rushes upon them.
(JPS 1917:) Vengeance is Mine, and recompense, Against the time when their foot shall slip; For the day of their calamity is at hand, And the things that are to come upon them shall make haste.
Vengeance is Mine, and vengeance is mine. For many Orthodox Trumpists, a radical response may be called for. Niceties such as 'Constitutionality' are a luxury that the crisis does not avail us.
עִם־נָבָ֖ר תִּתָּבָ֑ר וְעִם־עִקֵּ֖שׁ תִּתַּפָּֽל׃
With the pure You act in purity,
And with the perverse You are wily.
As God is 'wily' in fighting the perverse, so must we be? Many Orthodox Trumpists see in Trump's fighting spirits an expression of the 'wiliness of God.'
(יט) אִם־תִּקְטֹ֖ל אֱל֥וֹקַּ ׀ רָשָׁ֑ע וְאַנְשֵׁ֥י דָ֝מִ֗ים ס֣וּרוּ מֶֽנִּי׃ (כ) אֲשֶׁ֣ר יֹ֭מְרוּךָ לִמְזִמָּ֑ה נָשׂ֖וּא לַשָּׁ֣וְא עָרֶֽיךָ׃ (כא) הֲלֽוֹא־מְשַׂנְאֶ֖יךָ ה׳ ׀ אֶשְׂנָ֑א וּ֝בִתְקוֹמְמֶ֗יךָ אֶתְקוֹטָֽט׃ (כב) תַּכְלִ֣ית שִׂנְאָ֣ה שְׂנֵאתִ֑ים לְ֝אוֹיְבִ֗ים הָ֣יוּ לִֽי׃
(19) O God, if You would only slay the wicked—
you murderers, away from me!— (20) who invoke You for intrigue,
Your enemies who swear by You falsely. (21) O LORD, You know I hate those who hate You,
and loathe Your adversaries. (22) I feel a perfect hatred toward them;
I count them my enemies.
Many conclude: To be loyal to God is to hate God's enemies. Hatred can be seen as a positive value.
וְלַמַּלְשִׁינִים אַל תְּהִי תִקְוָה וְכָל הָרִשְׁעָה כְּרֶֽגַע תֹּאבֵד וְכָל אֹיְבֶֽיךָ מְהֵרָה יִכָּרֵֽתוּ וְהַזֵּדִים מְהֵרָה תְעַקֵּר וּתְשַׁבֵּר וּתְמַגֵּר וְתַכְנִֽיעַ בִּמְהֵרָה בְיָמֵֽינוּ: בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה ה׳ שׁוֹבֵר אֹיְ֒בִים וּמַכְנִֽיעַ זֵדִים:
Let there be no hope for informers and may all wickedness instantly perish; may all the enemies of Your people be swiftly cut off, and may You quickly uproot, crush, rout and subdue the insolent, speedily in our days. Blessed are You, Adonoy, Crusher of enemies. and Subduer of the insolent.
Many conclude: Seeking the punishment of the wicked should be an abiding concern of God's people. If Trump will punish the enemies of the Jewish people, what is not to like?
רַבִּי אֱלִיעֶזֶר הַגָּדוֹל אוֹמֵר...
בְּעִקְּבוֹת מְשִׁיחָא חֻצְפָּא יִסְגֵּא, וְיֹקֶר יַאֲמִיר, הַגֶּפֶן תִּתֵּן פִּרְיָהּ וְהַיַּיִן בְּיֹקֶר, וְהַמַּלְכוּת תֵּהָפֵךְ לְמִינוּת, וְאֵין תּוֹכֵחָה, בֵּית וַעַד יִהְיֶה לִזְנוּת, וְהַגָּלִיל יֶחֱרַב, וְהַגַּבְלָן יִשּׁוֹם, וְאַנְשֵׁי הַגְּבוּל יְסוֹבְבוּ מֵעִיר לְעִיר וְלֹא יְחוֹנָּנוּ, וְחָכְמַת סוֹפְרִים תִּסְרַח, וְיִרְאֵי חֵטְא יִמָּאֲסוּ, וְהָאֱמֶת תְּהֵא נֶעְדֶּרֶת. נְעָרִים פְּנֵי זְקֵנִים יַלְבִּינוּ, זְקֵנִים יַעַמְדוּ מִפְּנֵי קְטַנִּים. (מיכה ז) בֵּן מְנַבֵּל אָב, בַּת קָמָה בְאִמָּהּ, כַּלָּה בַּחֲמֹתָהּ, אֹיְבֵי אִישׁ אַנְשֵׁי בֵיתוֹ. פְּנֵי הַדּוֹר כִּפְנֵי הַכֶּלֶב, הַבֵּן אֵינוֹ מִתְבַּיֵּשׁ מֵאָבִיו. וְעַל מִי יֵשׁ לָנוּ לְהִשָּׁעֵן, עַל אָבִינוּ שֶׁבַּשָּׁמָיִם. ...
... He [Rabbi Eliezer the Great] also said: In the times of the approach of the Messiah, impudence will increase and high costs will pile up. Although the vine shall bring forth its fruit, wine will nevertheless be expensive.
And the monarchy shall turn to heresy, and there will be no one to give reproof about this. The meeting place of the Sages will become a place of promiscuity, and the Galilee shall be destroyed, and the Gavlan will be desolate, and the men of the border shall go round from city to city to seek charity, but they will find no mercy.
And the wisdom of scribes will putrefy, and people who fear sin will be held in disgust, and the truth will be absent.
The youth will shame the face of elders, elders will stand before minors. Normal family relations will be ruined: A son will disgrace a father; a daughter will rise up against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. A man’s enemies will be the members of his household. The face of the generation will be like the face of a dog; a son will no longer be ashamed before his father. And upon what is there for us to rely? Only upon our Father in heaven. ...
For many, contemporary society, with all its perceived perversions, matches the description that Rabbi Eliezer the Great' gave of the world at the precipice of the messianic era. Upon whom can we rely? An agent of God...
(6) I herewith deliver all these lands to My servant, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon; I even give him the wild beasts to serve him. (7) All nations shall serve him, his son and his grandson—until the turn of his own land comes, when many nations and great kings shall subjugate him. (8) The nation or kingdom that does not serve him—King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon—and does not put its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, that nation I will visit—declares GOD—with sword, famine, and pestilence, until I have destroyed it by his hands.
With Jeremiah 27 in view, many Orthodox Jews may see Trump as a servant of God in the mold of Nebuchadnezzar. One need not be moral or kind to be God's servant. God chooses the ones to serve Him.
(1)Thus said the LORD to Cyrus, His anointed one—
Whose right hand He has grasped,
Treading down nations before him,
Ungirding the loins of kings,
Opening doors before him
And letting no gate stay shut:
(2) I will march before you
And level the hills that loom up;
I will shatter doors of bronze
And cut down iron bars.
(3) I will give you treasures concealed in the dark
And secret hoards—
So that you may know that it is I the LORD,
The God of Israel, who call you by name.
If King Cyrus of Persia, who permitted the Jews to rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem (II Chronicles 36:22-23), is described by the Hebrew Bible as God's anointed (Isaiah 45:1), then many Orthodox Jews may view Trump--who recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel--as one anointed/elected by God.
- Trump's crassness, his insults, his bullying of political foes
- His lies
- His apparent lack of compassion
- His vindictiveness
- His seeming disregard for the needs even of his own supporters
- His hatred of immigrants, migrants, refugees
It may be that the crises that many Orthodox Jews identify are of such magnitude that the foregoing issues simply do not attract much of one's attention.