--- title: Donald Trump: White House Hanukkah Party All About Jerusalem description: President Donald Trump told attendees at Thursday night's Hanukkah celebration at the White House that the party was "all about Jerusalem." canonical: https://time.com/5055770/donald-trump-hanukkah-party-jerusalem/ author: Nash Jenkins article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-12-08T13:14:31.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T04:58:17.492Z article:section: Politics og:title: Trump: White House Hanukkah Party Was 'All About Jerusalem' og:description: "Well, I know for a fact that there are a lot of happy people in this room" og:url: https://time.com/5055770/donald-trump-hanukkah-party-jerusalem/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt87c6a724bdcb92d6/6988f453929fadc4bdbeec7a/donald-trump-melania-hanukkah.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3912 og:image:height: 2201 og:image:alt: President Trump Hanukkah og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Trump: White House Hanukkah Party Was 'All About Jerusalem' twitter:description: "Well, I know for a fact that there are a lot of happy people in this room" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt87c6a724bdcb92d6/6988f453929fadc4bdbeec7a/donald-trump-melania-hanukkah.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # President Trump: White House Hanukkah Party Was 'All About Jerusalem' > Sponsored content. 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Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. by [Nash Jenkins](https://time.com/author/p-nash-jenkins/) ## Nash Jenkins Dec 8, 2017 1:14 PM UTC  President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump attend a Hanukkah reception in the East Room of the White House President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump attend a Hanukkah reception in the East Room of the White House SAUL LOEB - AFP/Getty Images by [Nash Jenkins](https://time.com/author/p-nash-jenkins/) ## Nash Jenkins Dec 8, 2017 1:14 PM UTC President [Donald Trump](http://time.com/tag/donald-trump/) told attendees at Thursday night’s Hanukkah celebration at the White House that the party was “all about Jerusalem,” referring to his decision the day before to [recognize the holy city as the capital of Israel](http://time.com/5053704/trump-jerusalem-move-palestinians-israelis/). “Well, I know for a fact that there are a lot of happy people in this room,” Trump said in his remarks at the event, according to a pool transcript. Then, simply: “Jerusalem.” Guests at the party included the children of his daughter Ivanka and son-in-law Jared Kushner, Arabella, Theodore, and Joseph, who have been raised as Jewish; Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, and the prominent Orthodox rabbi Meir Soloveichik.  Ivanka Trump holds her son Theodore alongside Jared Kushner attends a Hanukkah reception SAUL LOEB - AFP/Getty Images Trump, flanked by First Lady Melania, invoked his Jerusalem decision — which has, as it was expected to, proven controversial — repeatedly throughout the evening. “That wasn’t bad,” Trump said after stumbling over the pronunciation of Soloveichik’s name in his remarks. “You think it’s an easy one? It’s not. 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