Four Jewish Friends, One Plot: Donald Trump Allegedly Caught Up in ‘Fantasy’ Story Trap

US President Donald Trump has reportedly told the same story about his Israel policies four times, changing the main character in the plot, The Washington Post has concluded. The outlet made a compilation of the POTUS’ public appearances in which he praised his withdrawal from the Joint Comprehensive Plan Of Action (JCPOA) in 2018 as the “biggest thing" for Israel, citing his Jewish acquaintances.

 

​The plot of these four stories was the same and described a conversation between Trump and a Jewish friend of his about his recent moves in the Middle East. In each version, the billionaire-turned-commander-in-chief asked his interlocutor what was more important, acknowledging Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights or moving the US Embassy to Jerusalem and recognising it as the capital. The response was “neither”, as what Trump had done with Iran was described as “more important”.

When he recounted the anecdote on 9 September, Trump spoke with some “people”. On 7 December, Trump mentioned Jewish gambling magnate Sheldon Adelson, based in the US, instead. Several days later, on 11 December, New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft was the star of the story – only to lose this role to Jewish real estate developer and father of his son-in-law Jared, Charles Kushner, several hours later. He praised “ending the Iran nuclear catastrophe” after a similar exchange.

Some immediately branded the anecdote a fantasy.

​Others offered him a way to avoid such gaffes in the future.

​There were those, however, who believed that all four stories might be true, suggesting that the president is “self-fixated”, so he could have asked all of them the same question.