By Kanishka Singh
WASHINGTON, July 24 (Reuters) – President Donald Trump announced on Friday that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is slated to travel to the United States next week.
The statement was delivered during Trump’s address at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner on Friday, where he incorrectly described Senator Chuck Schumer as a Palestinian.
“I intend to present him (Schumer) with a fine Palestinian-style outfit tomorrow so he can greet Bibi Netanyahu when he arrives in town next week,” Trump remarked.
“He has become Palestinian,” Trump said of Schumer, who is Jewish, while also quipping that Sharia law represents Schumer’s “new founding.”
Advocacy groups representing American Muslim and Jewish communities have previously condemned Trump for labeling Schumer a Palestinian, stating that the term is used disparagingly as a slur.
Netanyahu’s office confirmed that he will travel to Washington on Monday and meet with Trump on Tuesday, and will also attend the funeral of the late U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham.
The forthcoming meeting between Trump and Netanyahu will occur after five months of the U.S.-Israel campaign against Iran.
Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Washington; editing by Tom Hogue and Kim Coghill
