One Year In: A Look at the Administration’s Approach to Antisemitism
American Jews are being offered a false choice that suggests that real and rising antisemitism requires us to abandon the democratic norms and values inherent to our safety and advancement. While we are told that we can either protect ourselves or protect our democracy, the truth is that one is not possible without the other.
At the Jewish Council for Public Affairs (JCPA), we know that the impact of antisemitism extends well beyond the Jewish community, animating and fueling broader extremism and hate – and that Jewish safety is most assured in inclusive, pluralistic societies where all communities’ rights and safety are protected.
There is no inclusive democracy without real Jewish safety – and there is no Jewish safety without a truly inclusive democracy.
Recognizing how deeply interconnected Jewish safety is with the safety of all communities and a strong, inclusive democracy, we must take a strong stand against antisemitism in all its forms, and challenge policies and actions that exacerbate the threat – and also reject efforts to exploit our community’s legitimate concerns to advance an ideological agenda not in our interests. To combat the threats of antisemitism and anti-democratic extremism, we must invest in policies proven to build societal resilience to hate, including media and digital literacy, hate crimes prevention, and defending the rule of law and equal justice.
JCPA has laid out an extensive legislative and policy agenda to advance these goals in this critical moment of rising hate. Among our recommendations to fight antisemitism are:
As we continue to advocate for these and other policy priorities, JCPA has thoroughly tracked and assessed the actions and policy track record of the Trump administration since it took office. We hope that this compilation of the federal government’s record during this period can help provide a clear picture of the many challenges and obstacles that Jewish communal advocates are facing, and insight into areas that we must continue to prioritize for outspoken advocacy and pushback.
During its term to date, the second Trump administration has spoken extensively about the issue of antisemitism, and taken a wide range of policy actions ostensibly in the name of combating antisemitism. A commitment to countering real and rising antisemitism is laudable. Yet, ultimately, the overall impact of this administration’s policies, actions, and rhetoric has been to weaken democracy, rule of law, law enforcement and hate crimes prevention programs, civil service, and academic institutions – leaving Jewish, and countless other, communities more vulnerable.
The Trump administration has extensively cut or withheld funding for important federal agencies and programs that help investigate and prevent acts of hate and violence. At the same time, this administration has appointed and nominated an alarming number of senior officials with documented ties to white nationalist and antisemitic extremist groups and individuals – and taken several actions that have formally pardoned, excused, or empowered antisemitic extremists while normalizing or embracing their ideology. They have consistently undercut and disregarded fundamental democratic norms and the rule of law. All of these steps have raised major alarms for many in the Jewish American community.
Below is a summary of the administration’s notable actions and record on antisemitism during its term to date.
The administration has normalized invasion & replacement conspiracy theories, which have fueled a deadly cycle of extremist, antisemitic violence (including the Pittsburgh attack, the deadliest attack on the Jewish community in U.S. history) and underpin dehumanizing immigration policies. The administration has invoked the “Alien Enemies Act,” intended to give it the legal powers needed to combat supposed “invasion” by migrants and refugees.
The repeated use of the Great Replacement conspiracy is also used to justify attacks on voting rights, with the President repeating it as the justification for curtailing voting rights and the raid in Fulton.
President Trump has repeatedly used “Palestinian” as a slur to target Sen. Chuck Schumer, the highest-ranking Jewish elected official in the country, and said he is “not Jewish anymore”.
Leo Terrell, the attorney in charge of the president’s antisemitism task force, shared a social media post from Casey Wise, who led the white supremacist group Identity Evropa and was part of the deadly Unite the Right violence in Charlottesville, stating that “Trump has the ability to revoke someone’s Jew card.”
At a July campaign event in Iowa, President Trump used the antisemitic slur “shylocks” while discussing bankers lending to family farms as part of his reconciliation bill.
Social media accounts for agencies like the Departments of Defense, Homeland Security, and Labor frequently post memes and rhetoric rooted in white nationalist rhetoric and conspiracy theories. For example, the government employee responsible for a series of white nationalist inspired posts at the Department of Labor was recently promoted to the Department of Homeland Security.
In an April 2025 joint statement led by JCPA, a coalition of ten organizations representing a broad swath of mainstream American Jewry, including three of the four denominations, rejected the false choice between Jewish safety and democracy: “We reject any policies or actions that foment or take advantage of antisemitism and pit communities against one another; and we unequivocally condemn the exploitation of our community’s real concerns about antisemitism to undermine democratic norms and rights, including the rule of law, the right of due process, and/or the freedoms of speech, press, and peaceful protest. It is both possible and necessary to fight antisemitism—on campus, in our communities, and across the country—without abandoning the democratic values that have allowed Jews, and so many other vulnerable minorities, to thrive.”
This framework continues to guide JCPA’s work as we advocate for this administration – and all of our leaders – to advance policies that protect and advance the safety and rights of Jewish and all communities and core democratic norms and values.
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March 12, 2026
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