WASHINGTON (JTA) — President Donald Trump saluted the Holocaust remembrance efforts in Romania as a “vital cause.”
Trump made the remarks during a joint news conference Friday in Washington, D.C., with Romanian President Klaus Iohannis.
“Romanians have made many contributions to the United States, and to the world,” Trump said. “Very notable among them was Nobel Prize laureate Elie Wiesel, who was born in Romania and, sadly, passed away almost one year ago. And I understand that earlier this week, the American Jewish Committee presented President Iohannis with its very prestigious Light Unto the Nations Award for his work to further Holocaust remembrance and education in Romania. I join the AJC in saluting your leadership in that vital cause.”
In January, Trump drew sharp criticism from an array of Jewish organizations after neglecting to mention Jews in his International Holocaust Remembrance Day statement. He has since more robustly embraced the Jewish meaning of the Holocaust, particularly in a speech in the Capitol in April at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum’s Days of Remembrance commemoration.
