US President Donald Trump used the word "Palestinian" for the second time on Wednesday, during his meeting with Irish Prime Minister Michael Martin in the Oval Office, insulting Senate Democratic Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York, who he described as "Palestinian."

Trump made the remarks while discussing Democratic reactions to his speech to Congress last week.

Trump said: "Schumer has become a Palestinian, in my view. You know, he has become a Palestinian. He used to be a Jew. He is no longer a Jew. He is a Palestinian."

Schumer, the highest-ranking Jewish elected official in US history, did not respond or comment on Trump's description of him.

Trump had described former US President Joe Biden in his only debate with him on June 27, 2024, during the middle of their election campaign (before Biden withdrew from the presidential race on July 21, 2024). Trump said that day of Biden that he was a "very bad Palestinian" and unwilling to help Israel "finish the job" against Hamas in its war on Gaza.

The leading American Muslim civil rights organization has condemned Donald Trump for attempting to use the word "Palestinian" as an insult when he attacked Senate Minority Leader Schumer, describing him as "no longer Jewish."

“President Trump’s use of the term ‘Palestinian’ as a racial slur is offensive and unbecoming of the dignity of his office,” said Nihad Awad, national executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR).

He added, "He must apologize to both the Palestinian and American people. The continued dehumanization of the Palestinian people is what has led to horrific hate crimes against Palestinian Americans, the genocide being perpetrated in Gaza with American support, and decades of denial of Palestinian human rights by successive US administrations."

Trump repeatedly said, "Schumer is a Palestinian," amid his rambling, incoherent remarks about congressional Democrats, the war in Ukraine, the conflict between Israel and Hamas, and the impending government shutdown, which Democrats could avoid if enough senators voted with the Republicans who control the chamber, putting Schumer in a difficult political position.

Trump has previously insulted Schumer with similar language, calling him a Palestinian and a "proud member of Hamas." The president has also regularly questioned why Jewish Americans vote for Democrats, even as concerns about anti-Semitism among his aides, advisors, and followers grow.

“Donald Trump has no business defining who is Jewish. Senator Schumer is the highest-ranking Jewish American official in the country, and the word ‘Palestinian’ should not be used as a slur,” said Halie Soifer, CEO of the Jewish Democratic Council of America (JDCA). “These comments are hateful but revealing, and it’s time to call them out for what they are—Donald Trump is an anti-Semite, an Islamophobic, and a bigot, and that’s why the vast majority of Jewish voters have never, and will never, support him.”

“Once again, this administration’s goal is not to combat anti-Semitism or protect Israel,” said Amy Spitalnick, CEO of the Jewish Public Affairs Council. “It is to weaponize anti-Semitism to persecute their political enemies, advance an extremist agenda, and undermine democracy—and that only makes Jews less safe.”

In the Oval Office, Martin was asked whether, as the leader of one of the three European countries that recognize the state of Palestine—the other two being Norway and Spain—he would inform the president of his views on Gaza. He said, "I don't have to inform the president. He's fully aware of the entire situation. We share the president's relentless focus on peace."

When the same reporter asked about Trump's recent proposal to force Palestinians to leave Gaza so the US could redevelop the land, Trump interrupted, saying, "Nobody's expelling any Palestinians," and mocked the reporter for being from Voice of America.