American billionaire and political activist Ronald Lauder (co-heir of the Estee Lauder cosmetics company) is the president of the World Jewish Congress (WJC).
The 79-year-old native New Yorker wrote today: “Following the deeply distressing events in southern Israel, where so many innocent lives were tragically lost and many were taken hostage by Hamas terrorists, the formation of a unity government is an imperative.”
Following the deeply distressing events in southern Israel, where so many innocent lives were tragically lost and many were taken hostage by Hamas terrorists, the formation of a unity government is an imperative. I commend @IsraeliPM and @gantzbe for stepping up in the name of…
— Ronald S. Lauder (@lauder_ronald) October 11, 2023
Lauder, a GOP megadonor who announced in 2022 that he will not finance Donald Trump‘s 2024 campaign for president, added: “With Israel standing together, and the United States, led by President Biden, standing behind Israel, it presents a formidable, cohesive response to these unprecedented challenges.”
Since October 7, Lauder has repeatedly thanked Biden for “his immediate condemnation of this grievous war crime and for making it clear that the United States stands with Israel and its right to defend itself,” and for being “in close touch with PM Netanyahu…and sending military capabilities to the region.”
In this moment of unparalleled crisis, I stand with Israel and its besieged population and unequivocally condemn the obscene war of terror and devastation that is being waged by Hamas and its Iranian patron against Israeli civilians, families, businesses, cities, and towns. I… https://t.co/AfQ7KPQLR1
— Ronald S. Lauder (@lauder_ronald) October 7, 2023
Note: Lauder and Trump, both 79, have known each other since the 1970s, when they both attended the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. According to the 2022 book The Divider: Trump in the White House (2017-2021), it was Lauder who reportedly suggested to Trump to buy Greenland in 2019 from Denmark. (Denmark rejected the idea.)
Lauder has yet to publicly endorse a 2024 presidential candidate, however, he did met with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis in March. Florida campaign finance records show that Lauder donated $200,000 toward DeSantis’s 2018 run for governor.
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