Overview
- President Donald Trump convened a closed, roughly 30‑minute Oval Office meeting with a small group of Jewish leaders before a larger Passover reception that followed in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building’s Indian Treaty Room.
- Discussion in the Oval Office centered on Department of Homeland Security grants that help protect Jewish institutions, support for Israel, regional tensions involving Iran, and the Sholom Mordechai Rubashkin case, with no new policy decisions announced.
- During the Oval Office session, Trump called Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner and put them on speakerphone to greet attendees, in a personal moment that highlighted his ties to Jewish communal life.
- Senior officials on hand included Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin, Staff Secretary Will Scharf, deputy chief of staff James Blair, Vice President JD Vance’s chief of staff Jacob Reses, Jewish liaison Martin Marks, and antisemitism envoy Rabbi Yehouda Kaploun.
- The guest list featured a broad mix of Haredi, Orthodox, and institutional leaders, as well as Holocaust survivor Jerry Worski and freed Israeli American hostage Edan Alexander, whose presence underscored the event’s focus on safety and support for Israel.