Trump celebrates dedication of U.S. embassy in Jerusalem

Donald Trump announcing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.

(Image credit: Screenshot/Twitter/WhiteHouse)

President Trump congratulated Israel on the opening of the U.S. embassy in Jerusalem on Monday. "Israel is a sovereign nation with the right, like every other sovereign nation, to determine its own capital," Trump said in a recorded message. "Yet for many years we failed to acknowledge the obvious; the plain reality that Israel's capital is Jerusalem."

Trump's daughter, Ivanka Trump, revealed the official plaque during the embassy dedication ceremony Monday alongside Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, announcing: "We welcome you officially, and for the first time, to the embassy of the United States here in Jerusalem, the capital of Israel." Ivanka Trump's husband, Jared Kushner, additionally spoke at the dedication, praising Trump for keeping his promise and dismissing deadly clashes on the Gaza Strip by saying that "those provoking violence are part of the problem, not part of the solution." Jeva Lange

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Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.