Courtesy of JTA. Photo credit: Andrew Lapin/JTA
An estimated 500 Michigan Jews applaud Trump administration officials during an event held to address antisemitism at Congregation Shaarey Zedek in Southfield, Michigan, Oct. 14, 2026
(JTA)—President Donald Trump addressed a Michigan synagogue by video as part of an event orchestrated by Leo Terrell, chair of the administration’s task force for combating antisemitism, and the Zionist Organization of America.
Trump’s greeting, which was prerecorded, was met with applause from the estimated 500 Jews who had come to Congregation Shaarey Zedek in the Detroit suburbs amid a pivotal Senate election in the state that has prompted deep anxieties among its Jewish population.
The president told the crowd that Terrell “speaks for our country” and “speaks for a lot of people, a lot of people that love Israel but really, more than anything else, they don’t want to see false and inaccurate statements made about this horrible subject of antisemitism.”
The event was billed as the first stop on Terrell’s “American Tour Against Hate” and was staged by the U.S. Justice Department, while also serving as a fundraiser and booster for ZOA. Attendees were handed donation forms for ZOA’s Michigan chapter. The organization’s national director, Mort Klein, is close with Terrell and said he intends to participate in all future stops on the tour.
Several other Trump officials, including Terrell and U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche, would address the crowd over the course of the night to emphasize the administration’s efforts to combat antisemitism.
A group of progressive-leaning Michigan Jewish leaders denounced the event Wednesday, saying in a statement that it “risks fueling antisemitism and dividing the Jewish community.”
The statement accused the administration of trying to “distract” from its own “authoritarian policies,” called ZOA “a far-right radical group” and criticized the Trump administration for its campus antisemitism policies, including freezing university funding and “kidnapping university students.”
The Trump administration has been criticized for its handling of some anti-Israel campus protesters, including Tufts University student Rumeysa Ozturk, who was grabbed and detained by masked federal agents last year after co-authoring an op-ed calling to boycott Israel. A judge later ordered Ozturk’s release.
“Trump’s cynical use of antisemitism as a tool for stifling his opponents puts all Jews in danger, ” Rabbi Josh Whinston, of Temple Beth Emeth in Ann Arbor, said in the statement. “We should all be uniting to fight the real issues of antisemitism rather than using it to score political points and stifle dissent.”
Michigan Democratic state Rep. Samantha Steckloff, who represents Shaarey Zedek’s district, said in the same release that the administration was taking advantage of “an extremely challenging time for the Metro Detroit Jewish community.”
“We must continue building bridges with our neighbors to create safer communities, not put up walls,” Steckloff said. “This administration has continued to espouse divisive rhetoric that pits communities against one another and deepens the challenges we face. All of us deserve to feel safe.”
Kobi Erez, director of ZOA’s Michigan chapter, told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency after the event that the evening was designed to be “nonpartisan.”
“It’s a tour against hate, and we can’t choose one side,” Erez said. “We have to fight antisemitism and hate for all.”
