During a free-flowing and often self-congratulatory speech Saturday at the Republican Jewish Coalition's annual leadership conference, President Donald Trump slammed freshman representatives in Congress, accused asylum seekers of being "scam" artists and once again said his son-in-law Jared Kushner was the most qualified person to secure peace in the Middle East.
Over the course of the hour-long performance, Trump frequently went off-script, jumping from topic to topic while taking opportunities to drop names and insult his political critics and opponents.
'She Doesn't Like Israel'
During his opening remarks, Trump made disparaging comments about Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar.
"Special thanks to Representative Omar of Minnesota," joked Trump, adding "Oh, I forgot. She doesn't like Israel. I forgot. I'm so sorry."
The quip came just one day after a man was arrested for threatening to murder Omar over spurious, conspiratorial claims that falsely paint her as an agent for the Muslim Brotherhood. (Omar has repeatedly caught Trump's ire over her criticism of Israel's treatment of Palestinians, as well as her progressive policy positions.)
He also lambasted Freshman Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez for working as a bartender before running for Congress.
"Green New Deal! Proposed by a wonderful young bartender—29 years old," he said, referring to Ocasio Cortez.
'Asylum Program is a Scam'
The president's comments regarding asylum seekers echoed the harsh remarks he made during a visit to the southern border city of Calexico, California, on Friday, denegrating migrants seeking to cross into the U.S. not as refugees, but con artists.
"The asylum program is a scam," Trump said on Saturday. "Some of the roughest people that you've ever seen. People that look like they should be fighting for the UFC. They read a little page given by lawyers that are all over the place. They tell them what to say. You look at this guy, you say, wow, that's a tough cookie."
Trump expressed his disbelief that burly men with tattoos on their faces were truly in any peril back in their home countries. Instead, he told the audience, he believed these asylum seekers were the ones causing the trouble.
Peace in the Middle East
In regard to brokering peace between Israel and Palestinians, Trump assured the audience that his son-in-law Jared Kushner, who had no previous diplomatic or political experience, was the best person for the job.
"I would like to see peace in the Middle East. If those three can't do it, you'll never have it done," Trump said, referring to Kushner, Israel advisor Jason Greenblatt and U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman.
At one point, Trump touted his administration's efforts to withdraw from the Iran-Nuclear deal, which was reached in 2015 with the United Nations Security Council and the European Union. The Obama-era pact offered Iran billions of dollars in sanctions relief on the condition that the country curb its nuclear program.
"We're not gonna be fools anymore. Last year I withdrew us from one of the most dangerous, one-sided deals ever negotiated: the disastrous Iran-Nuclear deal," he said, without providing evidence. "They wanted to kill Israel. They wanted to destroy Israel."
Watch the full speech in the video above.
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