Trump hotel hosting Holocaust denier amid uproar over ex-president’s Israel reaction

A Trump owned hotel in Florida is set to host an evangelical Christian event featuring a Holocaust denier, amid outrage over the former president’s reaction to the conflict in Israel.

The ReAwaken America event will take place at the Trump Miami Doral on Friday and Saturday and feature speakers including fitness guru Ian Smith – who has previously made antisemitic and Holocaust denial comments online.

Mr Smith was listed among the speakers on Friday, announced during a short video. The line-up of the event over the two days also includes General Mike Flynn, Eric Trump, Lara Trump, and MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell.

Mr Smith has written multiple posts on X in which he has taken a critical stance against Israel since the outbreak of the conflict on Saturday.

“It’s absolutely wild that you can call for the complete annihilation and destruction of Palestine and nobody bats an eye, but if you say maybe both sides are at fault, you’re an antisemite that hates ‘God’s chosen people,’” he wrote in one post.

In another he said: “What’s the difference between civilian deaths of Muslims and Jews? Why do Americans only seem to care about Jewish civilians dying? Is it because the news told them to be mad about it?

“Truth is the most important thing. I don’t care who gets mad, I don’t care if your panties are in a twist over Zionism.”

In another post he shared a meme which appears to attempt to cast doubt on the six million figure of Jewish people who were killed in the Holocaust.

Mr Smith’s appearance at the Trump hotel hosted event comes less than a week on from the outbreak of the violent conflict between Hamas and Israel. More than 2,500 people have reportedly died on both sides, since Hamas launched its attack on Saturday.

According to the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), the number of extremist threats and calls for violence against Jewish people on encrypted messaging channel Telegram increased by approximately 488 per cent in the first 18 hours following the attacks by Hamas.

Mr Trump himself has also been condemned by Israeli authorities for remarks made at a recent rally in Palm Beach, Florida. Mr Trump said he felt compelled to share a “bad experience” he had with Israeli leaders as president.

He said he had been “let down” by Israeli president Benjamin Netanyahu during a joint military operation, and went on later to refer to Hezbollah as “very smart”.

The Independent has reached out to Mr Smith and Mr Trump’s spokesman for comment.