President Donald Trump says he wants to seize power in Israel.
The president, 79, was speaking to the press at Joint Base Andrews on Wednesday ahead of his departure for Connecticut for a Coast Guard graduation ceremony when he gushed about his own approval ratings in Israel.
“I’m right now at 99 percent in Israel,” he said. “I could run for Prime Minister, so maybe after I do this, I’ll go to Israel, run for Prime Minister. I had a poll this morning. I’m 99 percent, so that’s good.”
It’s not clear which poll Trump was referring to.
His 99 percent claim beats his home numbers, where his polling has plunged into a death spiral.
A New York Times/Siena poll found Trump at his lowest level yet, with his approval rating sitting at just 37 percent. The war in Iran is thought to be one of the key drivers of the downturn.
The Daily Beast has contacted the Israeli government for comment on Trump’s words.
In order to become Prime Minister of Israel, you have to be a member of the Knesset, the country’s parliament. In order to be elected to the Knesset, you have to be an Israeli national.
The Israeli Citizenship Law of 1952 and the Law of Return grant Jewish people the right, without restriction, to move to and settle in Israel.
Trump has no known Jewish heritage.
In the gaggle before boarding Air Force One, Trump bragged about his alleged control over Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu.
“He’s fine. He’ll do whatever I want him to do, he said in response to a question about how long Netanyahu would hold off on strikes against Iran.
“He’s a very good man,” Trump repeated. “He’ll do whatever I want him to do. He’s a great guy. To me, he’s a great guy.”
Keshet 12 reported that the two men had a “lengthy and dramatic” phone call about their next steps with the conflict.
On Tuesday, Trump said he had been “an hour away” from restarting strikes on Iran, but had pulled back at the behest of allies in the Gulf states, Mediaite reports.
“We were all set to go,” he said. “You’re talking about yesterday? We were going to be striking very... it would have been happening right now. Yeah, it was all done. The boats, the ships, were all loaded. They were all loaded to the brim, and we were all set to start.”
Asked about how long Gulf allies had known, Trump said, “They knew I was getting ready to attack. I didn’t tell them. I never tell anybody when. I never tell anybody when, but they knew that we were very close.”
