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President Donald Trump and his Administration have hit the ground running and their first ten days have been filled with intense activity, including:

The White House authorized immediate shipment of 1,800 one-ton bombs to Israel previously frozen by former US president Joe Biden. Last Saturday, President Trump posted to social media: " A lot of things that were ordered and paid for by Israel but have not been sent by Biden are now on their way!"

President Donald Trump on Monday signed an executive order for the development of an Iron Dome-like missile defense shield for the United States.

Did you know? Unlike other systems, Iron Dome was developed in its entirety using Israeli funds, but when the Defense Ministry and Rafael Advanced Defense Systems went into mass production, US funding was used as well. In return, Israel undertook to produce 50% of the system's components in the United States. The various parts are manufactured in 22 US states, then shipped to Israel for assembly.

President Trump signed an executive order Wednesday to combat antisemitism. The order requires agency and department leaders to provide the White House with recommendations within 60 days and outlines plans for the Justice Department to investigate pro-Hamas graffiti and intimidation, including on college campuses. The executive order calls for the deportation of resident aliens — including students with visas — who broke laws as part of anti-Israel protests following the Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attacks in Israel.

In a fact sheet distributed by the White House, the Trump directed his Administration to "marshal all federal resources" to "combat the explosion of antisemitism on our campuses and in our streets since Oct. 7, 2023."

"I will issue clear orders to my attorney general to aggressively prosecute terroristic threats, arson, vandalism and violence against American Jews," Trump said in the fact sheet. "I will be the best friend Jewish Americans have ever had in the White House."

The International Criminal Court (ICC) is a rogue operation that equates Israel with Hamas and has threatened to charge Americans with war crimes for fighting terrorists. Senate Democrats nonetheless voted Tuesday to protect the court by blocking a bipartisan sanctions bill that has already passed the House. The vote was 54-45, six votes short of the 60 needed to bring the measure to the floor of the Senate. Sen. John Fetterman is the only Democrat who voted with Republicans to advance the bill.

President Donald Trump signed an executive order on his first day in office restoring sanctions against the ICC that he had instituted during his first term of office, and which former president Joe Biden revoked with his own executive order in April 2021.

RJC Leader and Florida state senator Randy Fine easily won a special congressional primary on Tuesday. He will next face Democratic Joshua Weil in the April 1, 2025 special general election to fill the seat previously held by former Rep. Mike Waltz, who was appointed National Security Advisor by President Donald Trump. Randy Fine is expected to defeat Weil and become the fourth Jewish Republican in the US Congress, joining Reps. David Kustoff (R-KY), Max Miller (R-OH), and Craig Goldman (R-TX).

GOP Jewish group chair a key player in reviving Hegseth nomination

[Pete Hegseth], former Fox News personality and Bronze Star veteran, appears set to be confirmed, but his nomination previously seemed greatly imperiled. That was until Norm Coleman stepped in, the national chair of the Republican Jewish Coalition told JNS.

A former Minnesota senator, Coleman was selected as an experienced political hand, who knows Washington well, to walk Hegseth through the Senate approval process. Both the veteran and the RJC leader have North Star State ties, as Hegseth was born in Minneapolis.

The RJC has also hosted Hegseth on several occasions to speak at events as leader of the Republican-backed advocate group Vets for Freedom, according to Matt Brooks, CEO of the RJC…

Jewish voters fall along party lines in views of Trump presidency

Sam Markstein, National Political Director and spokesperson for the Republican Jewish Coalition, said he's optimistic about Trump's return to office, pointing to his first term accomplishments.

"The last four years you have seen abject failure across the board whether it was degrading or undermining our relationship with Israel, whether it was just lip service when it came to actually confronting the problem of antisemitism in our streets and our college campuses."

"President Trump means what he says, when he says it," said Markstein.

Senate Democrats' first major anti-Israel vote is a political liability for 2026: "Senate Democrats hate Netanyahu"

"Senate Democrats' decision to block sanctions against the out-of-control ICC is dangerous, and their last-minute excuses are pathetic," Sam Markstein, the national political director of the Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC) told the Reporter. "Senators [Elissa] Slotkin and [Ruben] Gallego's votes against this bill are particularly shameful, as they previously voted for the same bill when they were in the House of Representatives. Michigan and Arizona are home to thousands of proud, patriotic servicemembers who would have been protected from being persecuted by the corrupt International Criminal Court, but Slotkin and Gallego instead caved to special interests."

Netanyahu accepts Trump’s invite, will meet at White House next week

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Donald Trump are expected to meet next week in Washington, making Netanyahu the first foreign leader to visit to the White House since Trump returned to office. The White House confirmed Netanyahu had accepted the invite for the Feb. 4 meeting.

Congratulations to Lee Zeldin

Former RJC Board of Directors member and former US Congressman Lee Zeldin was confirmed by a Senate vote of 56-42 to become head of the Environment Protection Agency. Before President Donald Trump tapped him for the EPA, Zeldin previously served as congressman from New York's 1st Congressional District from 2015 to 2023, when he was the lone Jewish Republican in Congress. Zeldin narrowly lost a bid for governor of New York in 2022. Zeldin, who was sworn in by Justice Brett Kavanaugh on a Chumash yesterday, turns 45 years old today.

Meet Israel's new ambassador to the United States

Ambassador Yechiel Leiter introduced himself to Americans with a post on Twitter in which he discusses his upbringing in America, his education and IDF service, and his thoughts on the US-Israel relationship. Leiter, who lost his oldest son in battle in Gaza after October 7, says that Israel is at the forefront of the battle between good and evil. The US-Israel alliance will only deeper and become richer, he says, with President Donald Trump back in office.