--- title: Donald Trump to Netanyahu: Jerusalem is Israel's Capital description: The claim, which was made during a meeting at Trump Tower in New York, would mark a shift in American foreign policy. canonical: https://time.com/4507432/donald-trump-israel-jerusalem-capital-netanyahu/ author: TIME Staff article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-09-26T12:29:17.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T00:49:10.671Z article:section: Politics og:title: Donald Trump to Netanyahu: Jerusalem is Israel's Capital og:description: The claim, which was made during a meeting at Trump Tower in New York, would mark a shift in American foreign policy. og:url: https://time.com/4507432/donald-trump-israel-jerusalem-capital-netanyahu/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt91dcc61b402d269f/6988a76c5f570f6413b22a25/trump_netanyahu.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: trump_netanyahu og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Donald Trump to Netanyahu: Jerusalem is Israel's Capital twitter:description: The claim, which was made during a meeting at Trump Tower in New York, would mark a shift in American foreign policy. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt91dcc61b402d269f/6988a76c5f570f6413b22a25/trump_netanyahu.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Donald Trump Says U.S. Will Recognize Jerusalem as Israel's Capital by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Sep 26, 2016 12:29 PM CUT  Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at Trump Tower in New York, Sept. 25, 2016. Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at Trump Tower in New York, Sept. 25, 2016.Kobi Gideon—Handount/EPA by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Sep 26, 2016 12:29 PM CUT [Donald Trump ](http://u.s., donald trump, israel, benjamin netanyahu, jerusalem, tel aviv, capital, hillary clintonneta "undefined")told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that as president he would [recognize Jerusalem](http://time.com/4507011/donald-trump-hillary-clinton-benjamin-netanyahu-israel/ "undefined") as the capital of Israel, his campaign said on Sunday. The statement, which was made[ during a meeting](http://time.com/4507011/donald-trump-hillary-clinton-benjamin-netanyahu-israel/ "undefined") that lasted over an hour at Trump Tower in New York, would mark a shift in American foreign policy as the U.S.— as well as almost every other country in the world— does not recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and maintains its embassy in Tel Aviv. The international community does not accept Jerusalem as Israel’s capital because its status has not been resolved since Israel established itself in West Jerusalem in 1948 and then effectively annexed East Jerusalem after the 1967 Six Day War. Trump told the leader that under his administration the U.S. will “recognize Jerusalem as the undivided capital of the State of Israel,” [the campaign statement read,](http://time.com/4507011/donald-trump-hillary-clinton-benjamin-netanyahu-israel/ "undefined") repeating his promise to move the U.S. embassy to Tel Aviv. Hillary Clinton also met Netanyahu for less than an hour in Manhattan, [CBS reports](http://www.cbsnews.com/news/hillary-clinton-donald-trump-meet-israeli-prime-minister-netanyahu-new-york/ "undefined"). Reporters were barred from covering either event. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4507432/donald-trump-israel-jerusalem-capital-netanyahu/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4507432/donald-trump-israel-jerusalem-capital-netanyahu/"},"headline":"Donald Trump Says U.S. Will Recognize Jerusalem as Israel's Capital","datePublished":"2016-09-26T12:29:17.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T00:49:10.671Z","description":"The international community does not recognize Israel's sovereignty over all of Jerusalem","url":"https://time.com/4507432/donald-trump-israel-jerusalem-capital-netanyahu/","keywords":["2016 Election","2016 Election topic"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt91dcc61b402d269f/6988a76c5f570f6413b22a25/trump_netanyahu.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt91dcc61b402d269f/6988a76c5f570f6413b22a25/trump_netanyahu.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"trump_netanyahu","caption":"Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at Trump Tower in New York, Sept. 25, 2016.","creditText":"Kobi Gideon—Handount/EPA","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/2016-election/","name":"2016 Election"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4507432/donald-trump-israel-jerusalem-capital-netanyahu/","name":"Donald Trump Says U.S. Will Recognize Jerusalem as Israel's Capital"}}]}] ```