Trump hosts pastor who says ‘Jews are going to hell’ at White House Hanukkah party

US President Donald Trump hosted an evangelical pastor who once said Jewish people were going to hell at the White House Hanukkah reception on Wednesday.

Robert Jeffress is a prominent Christian leader from Dallas and has spoken at several religious events, including the opening ceremony of the new American Embassy in Jerusalem in 2018.

During the White House Hannukah reception, Mr Jeffress gave a speech calling Mr Trump “the most pro-faith president in history” and said he is “on the right side of God”.

At a sermon he preached in 2008, he said: “Not only do religions like Mormonism, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism – not only do they lead people away from the true God, they lead people to an eternity of separation from God in hell.

“Hell is going to be filled with good religious people who have rejected the truth of Christ.”

Two years later, Mr Jeffress told the Trinity Broadcasting Network that Islam and Mormonism are “heresies from the pit of hell”, adding that “you can’t be saved being a Jew.”

“The three greatest Jews in the New Testament: Peter, Paul and Jesus Christ. They all said Judaism won’t do it. It’s faith in Jesus Christ,” he said.

Mr Jeffress is a staunch supporter of Mr Trump, previously hailing him as a “Christian warrior”.

His praise has not gone unnoticed by the president, who said: “I didn’t know him, but I watched him, and I’d watch him on different shows. I said, ‘I like that guy. Man, he really talks great about me, and I like people that talk well about me.’”

Mr Trump signed an executive order at the event effectively defining Judaism under federal law as a race and nationality, as well as a religion.

This invokes Civil Rights Act protections that prevent educational institutions receiving federal funding from discriminating people based on their national origin.

Concerns about the order have been raised, with pro-Palestinian groups worried it may be used to silence campus campaigns calling for Israeli divestment and to end Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories.

Some Jewish groups are also worried by the order. Emily Mayer, political director of the Jewish advocacy group IfNotNow, said the move “promotes the classically bigoted idea that American Jews are not American… This order is a dangerous move to silence the free speech of human rights advocates and, in particular, Palestinian and Muslim students.”