Why does Donald Trump have a Hebrew plaque in his office?
“These awards are given to me by the Jewish community for different things,” Trump said in a video of the tour, pointing to a few items on the wall. “This is the Tree of Life, which is a very big award in terms of everything that I stand for. It means so much to me. A lot of times, I’ll have friends of mine come in — Jewish — and they will see the Tree of Life, and they’ll say, ‘Wow, what a great thing.’”
The Tree of Life award is handed out by regional chapters of Jewish National Fund-USA. A 38-year-old Trump received his on March 1, 1983, from the JNF’s tri-state region at a real estate-focused event.
The plaque on Trump’s award reads: “In recognition of his outstanding contributions to his city and to the real estate industry, strong humanitarian interest and support of Israel.”
Trump received the award shortly after he donated to the construction of two playgrounds, a park and a reservoir in Israel. (At least one of those parks has since been torn down “because it was deemed unsafe,” according to one local resident.) Trump also contributed funds to help Israelis evacuate the Sinai desert and resettle in Southern Israel — near Egypt and the Gaza Strip — as part of an Israel-Egypt peace agreement signed in 1979.