US President Donald Trump is expected to receive a delegation of Hasidic representatives at the White House on Thursday, led by the Satmar rebbes. This marks an unusual meeting, one that members of the Hasidic movement are linking to the struggle against drafting yeshiva students in Israel and to an effort by Hasidic courts in the US to deepen their influence over community leadership in Israel.
The meeting is set to take place in the Oval Office at 7:30 p.m. Israel time. Alongside the two Teitelbaum brothers, who each head one of the two Satmar factions in Kiryas Joel and Williamsburg, additional rebbes and yeshiva heads are expected to attend. This is an unusual lineup. The White House typically hosts leaders of Jewish organizations focused on combating antisemitism and supporting Israel. This time, the leaders arriving in Washington represent a movement that rejects the very existence of the state.
Satmar is one of the largest Hasidic courts in the world, centered in Williamsburg and Kiryas Joel in New York state. It carries the banner of the anti-Zionist Haredi movement, which denies the legitimacy of the State of Israel's existence, and its rebbes routinely attack Haredi political parties in Israel over their cooperation with the state.
The Hasidic movement's educational institutions in Israel refuse to accept government funding, out of concern that dependence on state money would lead to government interference in curriculum content. During his last visit to Israel, in November 2025, Rebbe Aharon Teitelbaum distributed roughly $30 million to institutions and families as part of "the Pure Shekel," a Hasidic initiative designed to support institutions that forgo state budgets.
Within the Hasidic movement, sources say the meeting is tied to the fight over drafting yeshiva students, and to the US courts' desire to strengthen their standing and influence over community leadership in Israel. A photo of the rebbes in the Oval Office is meant to signal that they have diplomatic backing in Washington, and it is also expected to help fundraising efforts in the US, money now needed more than ever to allow institutions in Israel to break free of state budgets.
Within the Hasidic movement, sources say the rebbe had not originally planned to attend, preferring that other rabbis represent the Haredi public instead. The reason was timing, the Hebrew month of Elul is the busiest time of year for a rebbe. According to those same sources, his position changed after several community activists spent roughly two hours in conversation with him, arguing that his participation could benefit the Haredi public as a whole. The Skverer rebbe also initially declined, and only changed his mind after a conversation held this past Friday afternoon.
On Friday night, the rebbe updated yeshiva students in Kiryas Joel that he intended to travel. According to the Haredi American news site Yeshiva World News, he told them the White House invitation had arrived the previous Sunday, and that he had initially considered declining given the proximity to Rosh Hashanah. He also said he intended to raise the plight of "tens of thousands of Jews in the land of Israel" over the yeshiva draft decree, and added, "We hope we can turn to the president so he can help with this situation."
Despite the rebbe's remarks to yeshiva students, Hasidic community activists are trying to keep the meeting confidential and are careful not to reveal what is on the agenda. A source familiar with the details told Israel Hayom that the delegation is actually expected to focus on the fight against oversight requirements and core curriculum studies at Haredi institutions in New York, and on preserving the independence of Haredi education, with participants seeking federal protection from moves by New York state.
Another source told Israel Hayom the idea for the meeting was born even earlier, as a gesture of appreciation to rabbis who helped Trump during the election campaign, but it was repeatedly postponed until it fell off the agenda, and has now resurfaced at the initiative of the president's office. According to the source, the difficulty lies not only in coordinating a date but also in reaching a unified position among the participants.
"This is a huge mistake. This rabbi has no right whatsoever to be anywhere near the president," Sid Rosenberg, host of a morning show on a conservative radio station Trump regularly appears on, wrote.
The invitation, reportedly initiated by White House Jewish community liaison Martin Marks, sparked an uproar on the pro-Israel American right. Influencer Laura Loomer, a right-wing activist and Trump supporter with influence over the president, wrote on X that Marks is "putting the president in front of a political crisis," adding, "These are anti-Israel, Mamdani-supporting rabbis being welcomed with open arms into the Oval Office." According to her, the rebbe intends to ask Trump to "pressure Netanyahu to end the yeshiva draft."
Satmar responded to Loomer's post. "iryas Joel leadership has shown strong support for President Trump in both recent presidential elections, voting overwhelmingly in his favor—more than any other Jewish community in the nation," read a response from the Hasidic movement's headquarters on X, which called on Loomer to check the community's voting data. Satmar did not address what the rebbe intends to raise at the meeting, and did not deny that the draft issue could come up.
The White House has not issued an official statement on the meeting, but an administration official said, "The White House Faith Office brings believing Americans together to meet with the president," and that "ahead of the Rosh Hashanah holiday, President Trump looks forward to welcoming rabbis representing some of the largest Hasidic communities in the US." He added that Trump enjoys significant support within the Hasidic community.
