All roads lead to Rome: How Trump’s admin will lead us to a familiar fate

It’s no secret that in the past couple of years, the American diaspora has moved to support the right wing as a reaction to the alarming increases in left-wing antisemitism on campuses and beyond. I believe a fundamental misunderstanding of various factions’ belief systems has led to a false perception of the similarities between Tankies, Progressives, and Liberals, as evident by the number of times I’ve had to challenge community members about the accuracy of referring to Kamala as “Hamas Harris.” This culminated in the Jewish vote moving pretty significantly to the right in the most recent election, with Trump enjoying widespread support from Jewish and Israeli orgs. 

I could write about many reasons not to support the current president. Whether as an American watching the deconstruction of our constitution, or an Israeli having to suffer the long-term fallout of a president whose erratic foreign policy will only serve to destabilize the region. However, that’s not the topic of this essay. I want to write not from the perspective of an American, an Israeli, or even an empathetic human. I want to write it from the perspective of a Jew living in a land meant to be proof that a nation of immigrants and refugees can thrive. It is undeniable that, regardless of intent, Donald Trump’s handling of Jewish affairs will lead to not only increased antisemitism but also a fate not unlike those we’ve suffered in countries around the world. 

Trump is no ally to the Jews. From cozying up to Neo-Nazis such as Nick Fuentes and Ye to drawing a false equivalency between the Charlottesville protesters sporting red armbands and counter protesters by exclaiming “there are some very fine people on both sides”. It’s been shown that Trump would support the most fringe of right-wingers as long as it benefited him. Now, during Trump’s 2nd term, we see antisemitic rhetoric coming out of the “mainstream right”, or what could be argued to be the previous fringe becoming the in-group. Between Elon Musk’s not one but two Hitler salutes, which were excused due to his autism (despite never issuing an apology), as well as Trump’s echoes of “Shylock” throughout the West Wing, it’s been made obvious that the Trump of 2017 is no different than the Trump of 2025. However, Trump’s association with known Nazis and proclamation of antisemitic dogma is not the reason I chose to write this article. 

To understand “why this night is different from all the others” and the circumstances that led to this article’s creation, you must first understand how various parts of Trump’s ideology and politics intersect. 

The first thing that must be made clear is that unlike Biden who was an ideological ally of Israel, Donald Trump follows or at least surrounds himself with Evangelical nationalists who believe that Israel must exist not because the Jews should be afforded the inalienable right to self determination based off of millennia of persecution but rather because the Rapture will only come once every Jew stands in the land of Zion. When former Fox News host Tucker Carlson took a break complaining about M&Ms losing their sex appeal to grill Senator Ted Cruz on Israel, Ted’s only response to the question of why we should ally with Israel was “The bible preaches if I’m kind to Israel, G-d will look favorably on me.” These are the “allies” we surround ourselves with in Trump’s republican party. Rather than support the Jewish nation out of empathy or historical understanding of the region, Ted delivers the most damning piece of evidence when it comes to how Republicans’ quid pro quo style of governance manifests.

It’s vital to understand that right-wing as well as very fringe left-wing antisemitism exists by “just asking questions.” It’s obvious that these questions aren’t in the pursuit of knowledge but rather a dog whistle for like-minded people who, rather than educate themselves, prefer to cower in ignorance. Just like that, a stigmatized bigot becomes a “curious intellectual,” giving credence and social acceptability to blatant antisemitism. Trump´s rhetoric creates the perfect scapegoat for his actions, and as history has demonstrated time and time again, the mantle of blame will eventually fall upon our shoulders.

Trump has a record of lying. A statement obvious to most people, although perhaps an understatement given his 30,000-plus lies just in his first term alone. Trump does nothing more than play people to stay in power for as long as possible, and the “American first” people are no exception. According to various interviews with Trump supporters, they voted for him because he was “America first” and vowed to safeguard national interests and adopt a strategy of isolationism. Now with Trump in office, the ever-curious antisemite has quite a few more questions to ask. Why, despite cutting aid to Ukraine, have we kept aid for Israel? Why, despite it being legal to insult and decry America, will insulting Israel lead to arrest or deportation? It’s no secret where this is going. As the old alt-right proverb goes, “To figure out who is in charge, figure out who you aren’t allowed to criticize.” 

I used to joke with my friends that I couldn’t imagine anything more annoying than the claim that Israel has existed as a Western puppet state since its inception, contradicted by everything from the White Papers to an American arms embargo in 48. To believe this in my eyes retells the story in a way that, rather than being historically accurate, only serves to fit the complex geopolitics in a very digestible way to push a narrative. That being said, I vastly prefer the idea of Israel being a puppet of America to the now all too common idea of America existing as a puppet of Israel. An idea just as historically inaccurate and ideologically driven but rather than being nurtured by the fringes of the far left that hate Democrats just as much as Republicans it’s from the party in charge of all 3 branches of the government.

Take, for example, Epstein. Rather than placing the motivation for Trump’s backpedaling when it came to the release of the Epstein files on the fact that he’s not only been found liable for sexual abuse, but is also on record saying “Jeffery likes them young,” the right wing has another convenient target. Rather than ask how you could have believed the most well-documented liar of the past decade, it’s much easier to “ask” questions about Trump’s puppet master or about Epstein’s supposed Mossad connections. This rhetoric is not just alarming but becoming increasingly common among conservative voices. Former prominent mainstream conservative pundits such as Tucker Carlson and Candace Owens have found a new home in the former fringe frays of the right as teachers ready to feed into students’ urges to “just ask questions.”

When you pair all of this together, it paints a terrifying picture of what the future of the Republican party could look like. To the many American Jews I know who voted for Republicans for the first time or have become sympathetic to their views due to security concerns, just know that there will never be a secure future for any minority under Trump, let alone the Jews. 

For many in the diaspora, it’s felt like antisemitism exists as a proverbial Rome that all political ideologies eventually lead to. However, the road built by the Republicans has shown itself to be traveled on by oligarchs and isolationists who have proven themselves giddy with joy when it comes to mass deportations of people whose stories echo our own. America is the diaspora’s land of milk and honey, and in supporting Trump, we light a match leading to the ignition of everything we as American Jews should hold dear.