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OpEds

Trump victory a triumph of faith

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I’ve been a loyal and committed Trump supporter ever since that famous day in 2015 when citizen Donald Trump descended the golden escalator in Trump Tower Manhattan announcing his intentions to Americans and the world that he would be running for the United States presidency. Thinking back to my own predictions of Trump’s certain success in those early days, it was a bold, unrealistic, and unpopular view. My support for Trump has been a central theme in my life over many years. My family, friends, and associates have known my unwavering views. Our interactions, discussions, and debates often surrounded Trump and his constantly transactional approach to complex problems facing America and the world – and the solutions to them.

In the early days of Trump’s 2015 campaign, I even wrote to the campaign volunteering to join the team as it battled its way through the rallies of the “land of the free and home of the brave”.

I closely followed Trump’s path to the White House. Slowly but surely, my predictions were realised, and when Trump was inaugurated in 2016, I was inspired to be there. I made my way to Washington, D.C. with my wife, Andy, and son-in-law, Fitch Bronstein. Together with hundreds of thousands of supporters, we celebrated the inauguration of the new president and the dawn of the new era.

Even during the uncertain years of the subsequent 2020 elections, the lawsuits, libels, “fake news”, and the establishment’s efforts to keep Trump away from power, I remained faithful and resolute that Trump would fight, fight, fight and win, win, win. Losing is simply not in his vocabulary.

The 2024 elections and its results tell the story exactly as it is. Trump was again chosen by the people, for the people, producing record wins in both the electoral college and popular vote, with voters expressing America’s desire to be great again. There was no way I would miss the opportunity, for the second inauguration. Andy and I again made our way to Washington, D.C., this time with my two sons, Yisroel and Yehudah.

Messages of encouragement, amazement, and inspiration poured in from my many friends and associates around the world. I always understood that America and its presidency was a global issue and quickly realised that people were sharing my excitement over Trump’s victory. We formed a WhatsApp group with more than 500 interested participants who followed our every move and interaction. Trump supporters or not, everybody understood the relevance and global impact of this historic inauguration.

We spent Shabbos with Rabbi Levi Shemtov at Chabad of D.C. The energy was palpable, with dignitaries from all over America, Israel, and Europe. Washington continued to fill up, and we interacted with many celebrities, statesmen, government officials, and regular citizens. Wherever we went, the many visitors were amazed by our determination and effort to travel across the globe to participate in the inauguration.

As it happened, Washington, D.C. was hit with unusually severe cold, rain, and winds. The president made the call to move the inauguration indoors, denying the many hundreds of thousands of people the opportunity to attend the ceremony in person. I must say, we were disappointed, but for those who know me, my optimism is unwavering and I believe everything is for the good. In a sense, the change of venue encouraged people to be more engaging, and gave us further opportunities to connect with people in a more meaningful way.

On Sunday, 19 January, we attended the Trump victory rally in the Capital One Arena on the eve of the inauguration ceremony. People stood in line for seven or eight hours in the freezing cold and rain, the line full of jubilance and excitement. This was certainly a highlight of our trip, as we joined the thousands of people fortunate enough to gain entry into the arena. Key members of his administration shared messages of victory, hope, inspiration, positivity, and the changed approach to the future of America, Israel, and the world.

In the midst of the celebrations, the hostage deal was looming, sparking further discussion, debate, hope, and sadness. I was reminded that Am Yisrael and Eretz Yisrael are no less important than the inauguration, arguably the most significant political event in modern history. All the news agencies, visitors, and discussions were fixed on the unfolding events. As South Africans, we were questioned about our government’s disappointing actions in its case against Israel at the International Court of Justice. Wherever we went, we expressed difficulty with our government’s stance, and reiterated Chief Rabbi Dr Warren Goldstein’s strong voice on this issue, namely that the South African government doesn’t represent the people of South Africa. As ardent Chassidim of The Rebbe, we echoed The Rebbe’s voice that the land of Israel belongs to the Jewish people, and that the security of its inhabitants can never be compromised.

I’m confident that Trump’s presidency will be great for America, Israel, Am Yisrael, and the whole world. The president is forward looking, positive, resolute, and an extremely strong leader! Enjoy the ride and as a masterstroke of succession, Trump chose Vice President JD Vance, just 40 years young, to lead the Republican Party in the future. My belief is that he will, please G-d, be elected the 48th United States president.

  • Mark Adam Stein is a South African international entrepreneur based in Johannesburg.
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4 Comments

4 Comments

  1. Damon Kalvari

    January 25, 2025 at 6:51 pm

    What is this article doing in a Jewish newspaper? Is there some kind of Jewish context in this article? Then I read a reference around a favorable outcome for Israel under this second Trump presidency. But as a whole, the article focuses on the writer and his family’s joyous exciting experience around Trump’s victory. What has happened to the Jewish community? Does Trump’s values, principles, policies align the same with Judaism? I’m not delving into Torah, or Talmudic-like opinions or interpretations, I’m just looking at basic Jewish values of tolerance, kindness, and our deep belief in the preservation of human rights. Does Trump align with any of this? How an article like this can be published, be normalized, like it’s perfectly acceptable, leaves me really shocked.

  2. Ollie

    January 25, 2025 at 11:05 pm

    And we have Trump’s right-hand man, Musk, publicly doing Nazi salutes and on his Twitter account saying that ‘Jews promote hatred of whites’.

    Are you, Mark, aware of the term ‘useful idiot’?

    • Damon Kakvari

      January 26, 2025 at 12:04 pm

      Thank you Ollie. For the sake of brevity, I left that Musk incident out. There’s are also many other similar incidents, can go and on. But, I do want to avoid attacking the writer. Yes, I wish he didn’t have these beliefs, but my main concern is the publishing and normalizing of his article. The Jewish Report chose to publish this article. To me, this signals a very worrying trend of where our Jewish community is heading. The Jewish Report has a board consisting of some prominent leaders in our community. Do our leaders share the sentiments of this article? To me there seems to be some tacid support for the Trump policies and rhetoric, which makes me very uncomfortable. Trump’s divisiveness, intolerance, and inhumanity should be something critiqued, and analyzed, not celebrated.

  3. John Ostfield

    January 30, 2025 at 3:44 pm

    Anyone who supports Trump is a stone cold racist! Any Jew who does qualifies as a Kapo!

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