President Trump Hosts White House Chanukah Party with Shluchim, Askanim and Holocaust Survivors
U.S. President Donald Trump hosted his Chanukkah reception on Tuesday, December 16, 2025, marking the third night of the holiday. The event—his first Chanukkah gathering since beginning his second term—was held at the White House in Washington, D.C., and drew hundreds of guests.
The reception was attended by Jewish leaders, elected officials, Holocaust survivors, and community activists. A large gold menorah stood prominently on stage for the candle lighting. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick recited the first blessing, flanked by Holocaust survivors Michael Bornstein and Jerry Wartski, who visibly displayed their Auschwitz tattoos to the audience.
President Trump also acknowledged 100-year-old Holocaust survivor Sally Muschel, who sat in the front row. When asked her age, Muschel called out, “One hundred and two months!” prompting thunderous applause. “She’s sharper than most of the people in this room,” the president remarked.
Guests were served a lavish glatt kosher cuisine under the strict rabbinical supervision of Rabbi Levi Shemtov of Chabad of Washington, D.C. The evening featured musical performances by Shulem Lemmer, who sang alongside the band as they performed “God Bless America” in Yiddish. The band continued to play throughout the night. Each guest received a wooden dreidel engraved with the presidential seal as a party favor. Chabad shluchim were seen in the White House putting tefillin on guests at the party who had not done so that day.
Shemtov addressed Trump. “You know that I’m Jewish and I’m American, but you may not know that a very large part of my family lives in Australia and that includes some of those who had escaped the attack and some of them didn’t,” the rabbi said.
The president introduced conservative talk show host Mark Levin, who referred to Trump as “our first Jewish president.”
In his remarks, President Trump warned that Congress “is becoming antisemitic” and expressed concern over what he described as the diminishing influence of the “Jewish lobby” and the “Israeli lobby.” He also honored the victims of a recent Chanukkah-related terrorist attack in Australia. The president joked with philanthropist Miriam Adelson at the podium—whom he called his “number one” financial supporter—after she referenced comments by constitutional lawyer Alan Dershowitz who attended the party, regarding the legality of a hypothetical third presidential run.
Among the notable attendees were Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick; Assistant to the President Will Scharf; Congressman Randy Fine of Florida; Congressman Mike Lawler of New York; New York Supreme Court Justice Rachel Freier; Special Envoy Yehuda Kaploun; Assemblyman Dov Hikind; New Square Mayor Izzy Spitzer; Jerusalem Mayor Moshe Lion; Newsmax CEO Christopher Ruddy; FoxNews host Mark Levin; Rabbi Ari Berman, president of Yeshiva University; Avi Berkowitz; and numerous other distinguished guests.
