A delegation of prominent Hasidic rabbis and yeshiva heads is reportedly scheduled to meet US President Donald Trump at the White House on Thursday.
According to reports, those invited include the Satmar Rebbes, the Skverer Rebbe, the Bobover Rebbe, the Bobov-45 Rebbe, the Vizhnitzer Rebbe of Monsey, and Rabbi Aryeh Malkiel Kotler, a senior leader of Beth Medrash Govoha in Lakewood, along with additional rabbis and communal representatives.
Some details surrounding the meeting, including the full list of participants, have not been independently confirmed, and no public announcement confirming the meeting has been issued by the White House.
The planned meeting was partially confirmed by Rabbi Aharon Teitelbaum, the Satmar Rebbe of Kiryas Joel, who told students on Friday night that he had received an invitation to meet Trump at the White House together with other rabbis and community representatives.
The Satmar Rebbe said that he had initially considered declining the invitation, citing the Jewish month of Elul and preparations for the High Holidays.
He also played down the significance of meeting the US president in itself, telling his students that Jewish religious study was of greater importance than the prestige surrounding a presidential meeting.
The Rebbe said he ultimately decided to accept the invitation after recalling a meeting with a US president approximately 30 years ago, during which he was able to assist a Jew facing difficulties.
He said he hopes the upcoming meeting could similarly be used to assist an individual currently in distress.
The Satmar Rebbe also said he intends to raise the controversy surrounding the enlistment of yeshiva students in Israel.
“Right now tens of thousands of Jews in Israel are suffering over this decree to draft yeshiva students," he said, expressing hope that he would be able to appeal to Trump for assistance on the issue.
Reports on the planned meeting have also said that members of the delegation are expected to express appreciation to Trump for his administration's support for the Orthodox Jewish community and its institutions and to discuss concerns affecting Orthodox Jewish education.
The Satmar Rebbe's decision to meet Trump comes despite his previous sharp criticism of the president and of support for him among Orthodox Jews.
In November 2022, Teitelbaum condemned what he called “Trumpism" within the Orthodox Jewish community, saying it had “infiltrated the Jewish camp" and accusing some Trump supporters of having been “brainwashed."
Speaking after the 2022 New York gubernatorial election, in which he supported Democratic Governor Kathy Hochul, the Satmar Rebbe said his political considerations were focused on protecting his community and its educational institutions.
“We are not going to fix America. It’s not our job to fix America. Our goal is to protect ourselves," he said at the time.
Addressing his students ahead of this week's reported White House meeting, the Rebbe again warned against becoming overly focused on Trump or the attention surrounding the visit.
“Don't get swept up in all this ‘Trumpism,’" he said, adding that a single Torah lesson in the yeshiva was worth more to him than the entire affair.