An Israeli newspaper owned and published by Donald Trump megadonor Miriam Adelson attacked the president on Friday in open letter about his Iran peace agreement, accusing him of “betraying” Israel and declaring that he has “failed.”With the scathing headline, “You could have been the greatest president of all, but you failed,” Danny Zaken wrote directly to Trump in a letter published in Israel Hayom, Israel’s most widely distributed paper. Zaken argued to Trump that he “may be remembered forever as the president who brought about America’s humiliation.” He wrote:
“And from where I sit, near Jerusalem, the eternal capital of the people of Israel since the days of the kingdoms of David and Solomon, I say to you: You made a colossal mistake. You failed by signing a surrender agreement with a murderous and cruel terror regime. You severely harmed American interests and the democratic and human values of the enlightened world, and you turned over the hourglass toward the next war, which your successors will have to deal with in the years to come.”
Zaken also rebuked Trump over his use of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s nickname.
“Two weeks ago, someone in your circle made sure to leak the sharp conversation you had with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu,” he wrote. “And I deliberately emphasize the full title. He is not ‘Bibi.’ He is the elected prime minister of the independent and sovereign State of Israel, as would be anyone else sitting in his chair.”
Zaken went on: “And I am trying, and failing, to understand what caused this absurd change of direction, so contrary to everything you have said and done until now. The midterm elections are a flimsy excuse. You are in your second term, and the surrender memorandum of understanding will hurt the Republicans more than it will help them.”
He concluded with “one last word”: “We feel betrayed, nothing less, because your heart was, it seemed, in the right place, with all your flaws. You acted against it. You lost your patience and your moral and leadership compass. Only if you walk this back and avoid reaching a final agreement with Iran might there be a correction.”
It’s not the first time Trump and the paper, which was started by the late casino magnate Sheldon Adelson in 2007, have been at odds, despite the over $300M the president received from the Adelson family during his three election campaigns.
In 2024, then-presidential candidate Trump lumped Israel Hayom with the “fake news” after two reporters wrote that Trump’s message to Israel left them both “shocked” as Trump urged Israel to end its war against Hamas.
Miriam Adelson, alongside her late husband, has historically been one of Trump’s largest campaign donors, for which Trump gave her a Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2018. In December, she said during a Hanukkah event at the White House that she would give Trump “another $250 million” if he ran for a third term.
