WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump says he didn’t know the term “shylock” is considered antisemitic when he used it in a speech to describe unscrupulous moneylenders.
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Trump told reporters early Friday after returning from an event in Iowa that he had “never heard it that way” and “never heard that” the term was considered an offensive stereotype about Jews.
Shylock refers to the villainous Jewish moneylender in Shakespeare’s “The Merchant of Venice” who demands a pound of flesh from a debtor.
The Anti-Defamation League, which works to combat antisemitism, said in a statement that the term “evokes a centuries-old antisemitic trope about Jews and greed that is extremely offensive and dangerous. President Trump’s use of the term is very troubling and irresponsible.”
Democrat Joe Biden, while vice president, said in 2014 that he had made a “poor choice” of words a day after he used the term in remarks to a legal aid group.
Trump’s administration has made cracking down on antisemitism a priority. His administration said it is screening for antisemitic activity when granting immigration benefits and its fight with Harvard University has centered on allegations from the White House that the school has tolerated antisemitism.
But the Republican president has also had a history of playing on stereotypes about Jewish people.
He told the Republican Jewish Coalition in 2015 that “you want to control your politicians” and suggested the audience used money to exert control.
Before he kicked off his 2024 presidential campaign, Trump drew widespread criticism for dining at his Florida club with a Holocaust-denying white nationalist.
The term 'Shylock' evokes a centuries-old antisemitic trope about Jews and greed that is extremely offensive and dangerous. President Trump's use of the term is very troubling and irresponsible.
It underscores how lies and conspiracies about Jews remain deeply entrenched in our…
— ADL (@ADL) July 4, 2025
Last year, Trump made repeated comments accusing Jewish Americans who identify as Democrats of disloyalty because of the Democratic leaders’ criticisms of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Critics said it perpetuated an antisemitic trope about Jews having divided loyalties and there being only one right way to be Jewish.
On Thursday night in his speech in Iowa, Trump used the term while talking about his signature legislation that was passed by Congress earlier in the day.
“No death tax, no estate tax, no going to the banks and borrowing some from, in some cases, a fine banker and in some cases shylocks and bad people,” he said.
When a reporter later asked about the word’s antisemitic association and his intent, Trump said; “No, I’ve never heard it that way. To me, a shylock is somebody that’s a money lender at high rates. I’ve never heard it that way. You view it differently than me. I’ve never heard that.”
The Anti-Defamation League said Trump’s use of the word “underscores how lies and conspiracies about Jews remain deeply entrenched in our country. Words from our leaders matter and we expect more from the President of the United States.”
Grow up ADL. we all know he didn’t mean it.
If you make a big deal about it, it’ll just dilute the times where you should be making a deal.
this is the adult version of “the boy who cried wolf”
Hey AP, do us a favor– First pull your terrorist supporting “reporters” from Gaza, stop lying 24/7 about everything, and then plop about Shylock.
Hey ADL, you Woke, radical money milking do- nothings with Obama Greenblatt yapping all the time : SHUT UP ! There’s nothing Jewish about you.
I had to Google it, even as a frum yid, i had no idea it had any antisemitic reference.
I believe Trump.
I believe him. Likely he never even read The Merchant of Venice.
No-one in history has done more for our people in this time of need. The ADL should be ashamed that in 4 months the prez. has done more than they have in 50 years. They should protect this man.
I forgive Trump, with a orthodox daughter and son in law, whom he trusts and has a good relationship with, I doubt if he knew what the term meant.
Now the liberals start to eat. What a bunch of bottom feeders.
President Trump has defied all odds in this political game. He has done more for our people in these times of great need, more than anyone ever in history, possibly next to Cyrus. ADL is irrelevant, compared to the steps this man has made to combat anti-semitism and campus incitement. The sheer audacity of the left wing – ADL.
The ADL has long lost any shred of credibility that it may or may not have ever had
I trust Trump 1000 times more than the self haters like the Kapo Shumer, Nadler, Shiff and the ALTA KAKER Sanders