Trump asserted that he had been “the best president by far” for Israel but a new poll shows him still below 40% among Jewish voters. “That means you’ve got 60% voted for somebody that hates Israel. And I say it – it’s going to happen – it’s only because of the Democrat hold or curse on you. You can’t let this happen. Forty percent is not acceptable, because we have an election to win.”

Trump has been criticised for associating with extremists who promote antisemitic rhetoric, such as the far-right activist Nick Fuentes and the rapper Ye, formerly known as Kanye West. When the former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke endorsed Trump in 2016, Trump responded that he knew “nothing about David Duke, I know nothing about white supremacists”.

But during his four years in office, Trump approved a series of policy changes long sought by many advocates of Israel, such as moving the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, officially recognising the Golan Heights as being under Israel’s sovereignty, and terminating Barack Obama’s Iran nuclear deal.

At Thursday’s donor event, entitled “Fighting Anti-Semitism in America”, Trump told the mostly supportive audience: “My promise to Jewish Americans is this: with your vote I will be your defender, your protector, and I will be the best friend Jewish Americans have ever had in the White House. But in all fairness, I already am.”

He criticised Harris over the Biden administration’s handling of the Israel-Hamas war, and for what he branded antisemitic protests on college campuses and elsewhere. “Kamala Harris has done absolutely nothing. She has not lifted a single finger to protect you or to protect your children.”

But the former president returned again and again to what is evidently a political sore point: his persistent struggle among Jewish voters. He repeated a talking point that Jewish people who vote for Democrats “should have their head examined”.

He went on: “I will put it to you very simply and gently. I really haven’t been treated right. But you haven’t been treated right because you’re putting yourself in great danger and the United States hasn’t been treated right.”

He claimed that Israel “will cease to exist” within two or three years if he does not win the election. “I have to tell you the truth and maybe you’ll be energised because there’s no way that I should be getting 40% of the vote. I’m the one that’s protecting you. These are the people who are going destroy you and you have 60% of Jewish people essentially voting for that.”

Trump claimed that a recent poll in Israel was 99% favourable towards him, though it was unclear what poll he was citing. He went on to boast: “Everybody loves me. I could run for prime minister but I’d have to learn your language. That’s a tough language to learn … I’m the most popular person in Israel. But here it doesn’t translate. It is a strange thing.”

Concluding his remarks, the former president reiterated: “I believe that Israel will be wiped off the face of the earth if I don’t win.” He described, without evidence, Harris as “anti-Israel” and “anti-Jewish”, even though the vice-president is married to a Jewish man, Doug Emhoff.

Trump was introduced by the megadonor Miriam Adelson, a co-owner of the Dallas Mavericks NBA team and the widow of billionaire casino magnate Sheldon Adelson. Critics have likened the Adelsons’ ability to pull public policy on Israel away from public opinion to the National Rifle Association’s influence on gun laws.

Miriam Adelson praised Trump’s “beautiful Jewish daughter” Ivanka and urged the gathering to support him. “All of us Jews must vote for him,” she said. “It is our sacred duty in gratitude for everything he has done and trust in everything he will yet do.”

Earlier on Thursday, leaders of the Uncommitted Democratic protest vote movement said the group would not endorse Harris for president, but also urged supporters to vote against Trump. The group, which opposes the Biden administration’s handling of the Israel-Hamas war, has called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and an end to US weapons transfers to Israel.

Oprah hosts star-studded sit-down with Kamala Harris: ‘Hope is making a comeback’

“There’s a real feeling of optimism and hope making a comeback … for this new day that is no longer on the horizon but is here. We’re living it,” Oprah told the audience of 400 in-person attendees and the more than 200,000 others who tuned in virtually.

The star-studded list of remote attendees included Tracee Ellis Ross, Julia Roberts, Meryl Streep, Chris Rock and Ben Stiller, who tuned in from their living rooms to express their enthusiasm for the Harris-Walz ticket.

“​I wanna bring my daughters to White House to meet this Black woman president,” Rock said. “I think she will make a great president and I’m ready to turn the page. All the hate and negativity, it’s gotta stop.”

“Hello, President Harris,” Meryl Streep greeted her, then covered her mouth. “Oop!”

“Forty-seven days,” Harris responded, laughing.

Oprah faced a challenge in sitting down across from Harris, who has been known among journalists since the beginning of her career as a rigidly controlled, repetitive interviewee.

Harris did not open up much, even when Oprah asked her about her sudden transformation after Biden endorsed her to take over the presidential campaign.

 

But Oprah did provoke one moment of unexpected candor, when she noted her surprise at learning that Harris has long been a gun owner.

“If somebody breaks in my house, they’re getting shot,” Harris said. She laughed, sounding surprised at herself. “Sorry. Probably shouldn’t have said that. But my staff will deal with that later.”

“I’m not trying to take everyone’s guns away,” Harris added.

During the nearly 90-minute conversation, Harris spoke directly with members of the audience, who raised their concerns about immigration, the cost of living and the crackdown on reproductive rights.

Oprah said Americans were grieving with Haitians and people mistaken for Haitians, who were now living in fear because the Trump campaign had spread lurid, false claims about them. But she added that many Americans on the left, the right and in the middle did have genuine concerns about immigration into the US.

In response to an audience member’s question about what she would do to promote border security, Harris blamed Donald Trump for killing legislation that would have provided more funding for law enforcement at the border.

“The bill would have allowed us to have more resources to prosecute transnational criminal organizations,” Harris said. “Donald Trump called up his folks and said, ‘Don’t put that bill on the floor for a vote.’ He preferred to run on a problem instead of addressing the problem. And he put his personal political security before border security.”

Also in attendance were the mother and sisters of Amber Nicole Thurman, a woman who died after failing to receive prompt medical care in 2022 when she experienced complications from taking abortion pills, just weeks after Georgia’s abortion ban went into effect. A recent report deemed her the first “preventable” death to be confirmed as a result of Georgia’s ban.

Her family blamed Donald Trump and his supreme court picks for her death. “They just let her die because of some stupid abortion ban. They treated her like she was just another number,” Thurman’s older sister said of the medical professionals she had turned to for help.

“You’re looking at a mother who is broken,” Thurman’s mother said, through tears. “It’s the worst pain that a parent could ever feel. I want you all to know that Amber was not a statistic. She was loved by a strong family and we would have done whatever to get our baby the help that she needed. Women around the world need to know that this was preventable.”

 

Harris gave her condolences to the family and reiterated that Trump chose his three supreme court justices with the intention of getting abortion bans to spread across states. “They did as he intended,” Harris said.

Thursday evening’s Unite for America live-streamed rally brought together 400 groups that have held virtual rallies for the Harris-Walz ticket.

The first virtual rally was organized by Win with Black Women, the group that, within hours of Joe Biden dropping out of the race, brought 44,000 Black women on to a Zoom call to strategize and raise money for the Harris campaign.

“We knew that we needed to get to work,” Jotaka Eaddy, founder of Win with Black Women, said during the event. “It was a moment in our country to show what Black women have always done.”

Despite big bumps following the Democratic national convention and the 10 September presidential debate, the race between Harris and Donald Trump remains tight, with both candidates polling at 47%, according to the most recent poll from the New York Times, the Philadelphia Inquirer and Siena College.