President Trump is addressing the Jewish Republican Coalition’s Annual Leadership Meeting Saturday, delivering a speech after recently accusing Democrats of being “anti-Jewish” and “anti-Israel.” He will speak in a ballroom at the Venetian Resort, owned by Sheldon Adelson, a prominent Republican donor and strong Trump supporter.
The president is likely to raise his administration’s decision last month to recognize the Golan Heights as Israeli territory, a controversial move that has not been backed by other countries. He is also likely to discuss his administration’s recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, and the decision to move the American embassy there from Tel Aviv.
Mr. Trump has made his support for Israel and its prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, a key part of his appeal to Jewish voters. Several attendees at the meeting Saturday were wearing red yarmulkes emblazoned with “Trump” and “RJC.”
The president’s trip to Las Vegas comes after he toured a stretch of the southern border in California on Friday and made controversial comments about asylum seekers, disparaging asylum as a “scam” and a “hoax.”
“I look at some of these asylum people, they’re gang members,” he said. “They’re not afraid of anything. They have lawyers greeting them. They read what lawyers tell them to read.”
“The system is full. We can’t take you anymore. Whether it’s asylum. Whether it’s anything you want. It’s illegal immigration,” he continued, warning migrants away from seeking asylum.
Mr. Trump reiterated this message in an interview with Griff Jenkins on “Fox and Friends” Saturday morning.
“There’s never been so many people coming up and that’s because they’re gaming the system and the system is changed for the worse because of what happened with Democrats and what they’ve done in terms of Congress,” Mr. Trump said.
Steven Portnoy contributed to this report
