3 days ago
'She's a young, angry person': Donald Trump says Greta Thunberg needs 'anger management class' after the activist claimed she had been kidnapped by Israel
Donald Trump has dismissed Greta Thunberg as a 'young, angry person' after the Swedish activist claimed she was 'kidnapped' by Israel.
Thunberg was among a dozen people on board a yacht attempting to break Israel's blockade of Gaza when Israeli forces boarded the vessel.
All 12 activists have since arrived in Israel and are set to be deported back to their home countries, but in a pre-recorded video message released online after she was taken into custody, the 22-year-old Thunberg urged her 'friends, family and comrades' to campaign for her release.
"My name is Greta Thunberg, and I am from Sweden. If you see this video, we are being intercepted and kidnapped in international waters by the Israeli occupational forces, or forces that support Israel," the Swedish activist said.
Responding to the remarks on Tuesday, President Trump dismissed the claims.
"She said she was kidnapped by Israel? I think Israel has enough problems without kidnapping Greta Thunberg," Trump said.
"She's a young, angry person … I don't know if it's real anger, it's hard to believe, actually. But I saw what happened.
"I think she has to go to anger management class. That's my primary recommendation for her."
Thunberg was headed for Gaza on a Freedom Flotilla Coalition vessel named The Medleen which departed Sicily on June 1 and was boarded by Israeli troops on Monday.
Images released by the Israeli government shows the activists being handed water and sandwiches.
All 12 activists have since arrived in Israel, where they are undergoing health checks.
In social media post Israel's Foreign Ministry described the vessel as a 'selfie yacht' that was only carrying a 'tiny amount of aid'.
"There are ways to deliver aid to the Gaza Strip — they do not involve provocations and selfies," the post said.
'More than 1,200 aid trucks have entered Gaza from Israel within the past two weeks, and close to 11 million meals were transferred by the GHF directly to civilians in Gaza.'
Israeli government spokesperson David Mencer accused the activists of carrying out a publicity stunt to raise their own profiles.
'Greta wasn't bringing aid, she was bringing herself,' Mr Mencer said.
'And she's not here for Gaza; let's be blunt about it, she's here for Greta.
"She's alienated half the world with her crying wolf and now she's looking for her next bandwagon. This was a PR stunt sailing under the flag of moral vanity.'
Israel's defence minister Israel Katz has ordered the activists to be shown footage of the terrorist attacks carried out by Hamas on October 7, 2023, before they are deported.
