The Perils of Naming: On Donald Trump, Jews, and Antisemites

ABSTRACT Antisemitism, which has been called the “longest hatred,” appeared to be on a sharp decline in the United States in the early years of the new century. Over the past five years, antisemitism has surged to life, registering a 100% increase in reports of antisemitic incidents in the United States between 20016—18. That period coincides, and not by accident, with the presidency of Donald Trump, who declared himself to be a friend of Jews and a strong supporter of the state of Israel, has lapsed into stereotypical representations of Jews as beholden to money and loyal only to their own. In this way, the boundary between philosemitism and antisemitism became hard to trace. It is especially noteworthy that Trump arrogated to himself the right to define Jews, a move that calls to mind the infamous declaration of the mayor of Vienna in the late nineteenth century, Karl Lueger: “Who is a Jew—that I determine.” This paper explores the naming of Jews not only in the context of Trump's declarations, but also policy formulations such as his Executive Order on antisemitism and the IHRA definition.