Trump says he's Israel's 'best friend' amid antisemitism allegations after 'dinner with Kanye West, Nick Fuentes'

Former US president Donald Trump has hit back at accusations of antisemitism following his controversial dinner party with Kanye West and Nick Fuentes by claiming to be Israel's "best friend". 

The Republican candidate, who announced a second presidential bid last month, met with Rapper West and far-right conservative commentator Fuentes at his Mar-A-Lago estate for a Thanksgiving dinner. 

West, who is now known as Ye, recently made headlines for threatening on Twitter to go "death con 3 On Jewish People". His deals with a number of household brands such as Adidas were subsequently dropped due to the antisemitic comments. 

Fuentes has denied that 6 million Jews died in the Holocaust and likened Jews burning in gas chambers to baking cookies, according to Vanity Fair. 

Trump was slammed by lawmakers across both US political parties, including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, for the dinner - which he later claimed was supposed to be a one-to-one with Ye but ended up with "unexpected" guests.

The Republican later told Fox News that he couldn’t be accused of antisemitism because "there’s nobody that has proven to be more of a friend of Israel". 

"They have acknowledged that I’m the best friend and president to Israel. I gave them the embassy in Jerusalem," he said. 

In 2018, Donald Trump decided to move the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, breaking with decades of US policy on the matter. The relocation was widely condemned for ignoring the systematic oppression faced by Palestinians in order to appeal to a conservative US voter base. 

Israel’s Prime Minister-designated Benjamin Netanyahu, who recently clinched the largest share of votes in the November Israeli elections, said he was "unabashedly appreciative" of the embassy move. 

However, the far-right politician criticised Trump for attending the controversial dinner party. 

"I think he made a mistake. I hope it’s not repeated. That’s all I can tell you," Netanyahu said, according to Haaretz. 

It is also rumoured that Ye asked Trump to make him vice president at the dinner, while Fuentes told the Republican candidate his re-election speech flopped. 

Ye was reportedly angered by Trump’s response and said he would launch his own campaign.