Donating massive amounts of money to a political candidate is like gambling: You never know who will win, or if your bet will ever produce the intended results.
Take the case of Elon Musk, reportedly the wealthiest man in the world. Musk donated at least $291 million to Trump in the 2024 election cycle. In return, he received numerous lucrative federal contracts, an unofficial Cabinet-level appointment, DOGE responsibilities, international attention, and unprecedented access to federal agency databases and confidential information.
Meanwhile, the wealthiest American Republican Jews, including members of the Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC) and the American-Israel Political Action Committee (AIPAC) and its wealthy individual members, gave more money to Trump than Musk. They also got much less than Musk received.
As a matter of fact, when the smoke clears, these wealthy Jewish donors may be left empty-handed when they audit what their hundreds of millions in donations to Trump and his MAGA backers gave them in return.
The results are dismal if the RJC and its large donors compare achievements to policy goals, as specified on their websites and direct mail.
There were a few successes in Trump’s first term—moving the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem and the Abraham Accords—but otherwise, their hundreds of millions in contributions for Trump’s second term helped elect one of the most corrupt, erratic, anti-democratic presidents in history, who has subjected the country to his unstable sociopathic behavior.
So, what Jewish values–justice, compassion, community, and the importance of learning and tradition–and Israel-centric goals did these Republican Jewish groups bring into Trump’s chaotic administration?
Very little that was new, and certainly not many successes considering the amount of money they donated.
Even worse, these Republican groups divided the American Jewish community and cynically tried to convince the majority of American Jews (80% of whom are Democrats) that voting for MAGA Republicans would be in their best interest. This proposal fell flat on its face.
Who Needs the RJC?
The story about the RJC represents a grossly misguided effort by some elitist, wealthy Jews to alienate the vast majority of their brethren who are Democrats. Since World War I, 80% of American Jews have voted for Democrats for many valid reasons tied to shared values, compassion for the poor and immigrants, offering a social safety net, programs for the elderly and the poor, such as Medicare, Social Security, and Medicaid, and an emphasis on equality for all citizens.
These are not Republican values. Since the presidency of Ronald Reagan, Republicans have not advanced a single social welfare program that benefits all Americans or a disadvantaged group.
The RJC’s goals are mainstream conservative values, which have nothing to do with Jewish ethics and values. As the RJC website states, it favors national security, support for Israel, small government, low taxes, free enterprise, and energy dominance. As wealthy Republicans, the RJC wants more advantageous tax breaks (especially the carried interest tax loophole) and lower taxes, which are the unstated driving forces behind the group’s official purpose. After the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terrorist attacks on Israel, the RJC invoked their dedication to Israel, and fighting antisemitism as important goals. However, Democrats already shared these.
The big problem is that none of the RJC’s issues are primarily “Jewish.” If it weren’t for their large egos, its wealthy Republican contributors easily could have remained members of existing Republican groups. Since Republicans are not unquestioned supporters of Israel (remember James Baker in the Reagan and Bush administrations), these Jewish Republicans could have shifted their support to AIPAC if their primary concern was garnering more support for Israel.
But this situation didn’t seem to satisfy Republican Jews. Instead, they felt the need “to sensitize Republican leadership in government and the Party to the concerns and issues of the Jewish community.”
This goal illustrates the cultural divide between the old-line Brahmin Yankee Republicans versus the grandchildren of former shtetl dwellers from Eastern Europe. It also grossly overstates their representation of “concerns and issues of the Jewish community” since there are so few Republican Jews, and the RJC does not represent the majority of American Jews. Despite this, the RJC was formed in 1985 without a clearly defined goal about why it was needed.
Flash forward to Trump’s first and second presidential campaigns. To get Trump’s attention, the RJC and wealthy contributors showered Trump with money. The combination of RJC and individual wealthy Republican Jews to both of Trump’s presidential campaigns (2025 and 2017) totaled about $500 million, according to public campaign files. This included millions from Sheldon and Miriam Adelson, the RJC, AIPAC, and wealthy Jewish donors.
So, What Did the Republican Jews Get for Their Hundreds of Millions in Contributions?
Almost nothing. Here are the specifics:
If They Wanted to Reduce Antisemitism, the RJC and Wealthy Donors Failed
Antisemitism has been around for at least 3,000 years, and the long-standing fundraising campaigns to “fight” antisemitism never took this into account.
As the New York Times points out, “the United States is experiencing its worst surge of anti-Jewish hate in many decades. Antisemitic hate crimes more than doubled between 2021 and 2023, according to the F.B.I., and appear to have risen further in 2024. On a per capita basis, Jews face far greater risks of being victims of hate crimes than members of any other demographic groups.”
The engine behind this rise in hate crimes is due to Israel’s policies in Gaza, the West Bank, and now Iran. These attacks may have been funded and coordinated by some Arab nations. Still, this increase probably would not have happened if the Middle East wars had not inflamed these underlying animosities.
There will be a spike in anti-Semitism if the U.S. attacks Iran. Many of the MAGA America First isolationists will see that as Israeli manipulation of Trump. Nothing that any Jewish group will do can curtail this reaction.
Despite the Money, the RJC Is Not Shaping U.S. Mideast Policy
The RJC and Adelson thought their money would influence American foreign policy in the Middle East. This failed. Despite Miriam Adelson’s $100 million donation, which she thought would make her part of the State Department, she is watching events unfold like millions of average Americans in the Mideast.
If the U.S. attacks Iran or sends troops, it will create havoc among MAGA supporters, many of whom are isolationists. Consider Marjorie Taylor Greene, who said, “Anyone slobbering for the U.S. to become fully involved in the Israel/Iran war is not America First/MAGA.” Then there are also Tucker Carlson, Steve Bannon, and others who chafe at the idea that Israel and “the Jewish lobby” are pressuring Trump to engage the Iranians militarily.
It’s doubtful and foolish to show a direct link between the foreign policy goals of the RJC and AIPAC , and their significant contributions, and a direct link to U.S. involvement in the Israeli war strategy. This situation also shows the significant differences between AIPAC and the RJC.
AIPAC contributes more money to individual Congressmen, while the RJC/Adelson is a huge contributor to Trump. Since Trump is bypassing Congress in making any decision to attack Iran, the impact of individual Congressmen is minimal. Instead, it looks like Trump is deciding what to do himself, and this is dangerous since Trump is unstable and surrounded by a few less-than-capable national security and defense advisors.
The RJC Money Did Not Change Trump’s Allegiances to Christian Nationalists
As The New York Times, said “The political right, including President Trump, deserves substantial blame. Yes, he has led a government crackdown against antisemitism on college campuses, and that crackdown has caused colleges to become more serious about addressing the problem. But Mr. Trump has also used the subject as a pretext for his broader campaign against the independence of higher education. The combination risks turning antisemitism into yet another partisan issue, encouraging opponents to dismiss it as one of his invented realities.
“Even worse, Mr. Trump had made it normal to hate, by using bigoted language about a range of groups, including immigrants, women, and trans Americans.”
Trump’s roots in right-wing, Christian nationalism are deeper than his ties to the American Jewish community, despite Trump’s theatrics and the wishful thinking of AIPAC, Jexit, and other fawning Jewish groups.
Consider the dinner Trump had with Nazi-sympathizing rapper Kanye West (known as Ye) and Nick Fuentes, a white supremacist and Holocaust denier who has praised Hitler. Plus, Trump supporters Kevin McCarthy, Paul Gosar, Marjory Taylor Greene, Elise Stefanik, and Matt Gaetz all endorsed white nationalists.
If the RJC and Other Big Donors Wanted Closer Ties Between Israel and the U.S., Their Money Had Little Impact
Trump and Netanyahu have had public political spats, and Israel has gone its own way in the wars in Gaza, the West Bank, Yemen, and Iran. Israel has been allowed to wage these expansive wars as an extension of the long-standing agreement that Israel can defend itself. This policy has nothing to do with the billions in donations to Trump. Instead, they can be attributed to the decades of work of AIPAC, before it became a MAGA shill.
The RJC and AIPAC Raise the Toxic Dual Loyalty Issue
In a country divided by political animosity, driven by the most corrupt presidential administration in U.S. history, AIPAC, the RJC, JEXIT, wealthy Jews, and other conservative pro-Israel groups, have confused the national discussion over whether the Trump administration must support Israel and its current war aims, and also fight domestic Antisemitism.
This is the devil’s choice. The majority of American Jews disdain Netanyahu and Trump. Polls in Israel find that 73% of Israelis want Netanyahu to resign. In the U.S., about 80% of American Jews are Democrats and oppose Trump’s policies.
Trump Fooled the Jews, Again
So, did Trump fool the wealthy Republican Jews?
It looks like he did, again.
Trump fed the big egos of wealthy people who, in turn, fed the enormous ego of a convicted felon, and lifelong sociopath.
Call it one of the biggest political double-crosses in modern history, or just another lousy incident of political intrigue. Still, it looks like the RJC, and its billionaire Jewish donors, made a terrible bet. They wasted millions to put a felon and sociopath in office. And what Trump does to give Israel what it wants (attacks on Iranian nuclear facilities) could never have been predicted.
Whatever Israel does in Iran, with or without the help of the U.S., it’s doubtful that any of the hundreds of millions from Republican Jewish donors will be cited as a contributing factor. These global events are outside the influence of a few influential U.S. billionaires.
Historians will agree that Trump will go down as the most corrupt president in U.S. history, who used wealthy, educated, otherwise civic-minded citizens as his accomplices. This proves that you cannot out-sociopath a lifelong sociopath. Plus, it shows that you don’t have to be brilliant to be rich.
