OAN Staff Cory Hawkins
6:32 PM – Monday, January 12, 2026
In a two-hour interview with The New York Times (NYT), President Donald Trump insisted that his MAGA movement is no home for antisemites. After being questioned about prominent conservatives who have voiced antisemitic rhetoric, President Trump also firmly rejected their inclusion in the Republican Party.
“I think we don’t need them. I think we don’t like them,” Trump said.
Throughout the interview, the President reinforced his condemnation of antisemitism, framing his stance through his record as a staunch ally of Israel. He highlighted this relationship by noting that he had been selected to receive the Israel Prize — the nation’s highest and most prestigious honor — as a testament to his support.
“Look, if you talk about the antisemitic views, there’s been nobody better for us. As an example, I just got the Israel award, which is the biggest award they give. It was just given to me. First time it was ever given to anybody outside of Israel,” Trump said.
“I have been the best president of the United States in the history of this country toward Israel. And that’s, by the way, acknowledged by everybody, including the fact that we have peace in the Middle East, and that’s going to hold.”
Trump also noted that his daughter, Ivanka Trump, his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and the couple’s three children are all Jewish.
“My daughter happens to be Jewish, beautiful, three grandchildren are Jewish,” he said. “I’m very proud of them. I’m very proud of the whole, that whole family. I am the least antisemitic person probably there is anywhere in the world.”
The conversation became more heated when the 47th President was asked to denounce Nick Fuentes, whose history of antisemitic rhetoric has earned him a designation as a leading White supremacist figure from the Anti Defamation League (ADL). Despite Trump’s assertion that he was unfamiliar with Fuentes, the interviewers pressed him on a prior meeting in 2022, reminding Trump that they had previously dined together alongside rapper Kanye West (Ye).
“I had dinner with him, one time, where he came as a guest of Kanye West. I didn’t know who he was bringing. He said, ‘Do you mind if I bring a friend?’ I said, ‘I don’t care.’ And it was Nick Fuentes? I don’t know Nick Fuentes.”
The Times also questioned Trump regarding Paul Ingrassia, an attorney whom he appointed as deputy general counsel of the General Services Administration (GSA). The appointment drew sharp criticism after leaked text messages surfaced in which Ingrassia reportedly admitted to having a “Nazi streak.”
“I don’t know that. It’s possible. I have thousands of people working here … I am the least antisemitic person probably there is anywhere in the world,” Trump reiterated.
Beyond his rhetoric, the Trump administration has implemented a series of policy measures aimed at dismantling antisemitism on American campuses.
Central to these efforts was the expansion of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, which allowed the administration to threaten the withdrawal of billions in federal funding from universities that failed to curb antisemitic harassment.
The GOP administration also took a hardline stance on campus unrest and antisemitism by initiating processes to revoke the visas of and deport foreign exchange students involved in anti-Israel activism or the promotion of extremist ideologies.
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