Donald Trump Says He Made Israel the Capital of Israel in Speech Gaffe

Donald Trump mistakenly said he made Israel the capital of Israel while president, instead of how he made the U.S. recognize it as the city of Jerusalem.

The Context

Footage of Trump's remarks, which he gave at the National Religious Broadcasters (NRB) International Christian Media Convention in Nashville, Tennessee, on Thursday, was shared on X, formerly Twitter, by Joe Biden's 2024 campaign team.

Biden's campaign team has frequently hit out at Trump's cognitive ability and apparent lack of coherency in public speaking as the former president and other Republican figures suggest that the 81-year-old Democrat is too old to run for a second term in office.

What We Know

During his speech at the religious convention in Nashville, Trump told the audience about how he moved the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem in 2018, which saw the U.S. officially recognizing the holy city as Israel's capital.

While retelling the story, Trump described how "I did it, and therefore Israel became the capital, and it was a big thing."

Newsweek reached out to Trump's office via email for comment.

Trump's decision for the U.S. to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital, which reversed decades of previous American foreign policy, was widely condemned at the time as a major blow to hopes of solving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Both Israelis and Palestinians consider Jerusalem their first city.

"Today, we finally acknowledge the obvious: that Jerusalem is Israel's capital," Trump said in a statement at the time.

"This is nothing more, or less, than a recognition of reality. It is also the right thing to do. It's something that has to be done."

Views

X user John Writer wrote: "If Biden did this, it would be on the front page of the Times above the fold, right-wing media would talk about it non-stop for a week, and progressives would demand a new Dem candidate. When Trump does it, it's just ... Thursday."

Fellow X user Aristotle Vossos said: "It is actually concerning that we don't call out Trump's gaffes as much as Biden's, because people are too busy focusing on every single other thing that's horrible about him."

What Next

The debate on whether the 77-year-old Trump, as well as the 81-year-old Biden, are mentally and physically competent enough to run for office again looks set to continue as the pair head for a rematch of the 2020 Election.

According to a Quinnipiac University poll released Wednesday, 67 percent of registered voters think Biden is too old to effectively serve another four-year term as president, compared to 41 percent who think the same of Trump.

Update 2/23/24, 7:15 a.m. ET: This article was updated with additional information and to note that Newsweek reached out to Trump's office for comment.