The Trump administration’s effort to deport a Columbia University graduate student, Mahmoud Khalil, in retaliation for Khalil’s role in campus protests opposing Israel’s war in Gaza, showed the lengths the White House is prepared to go to police speech about Israel.
The administration’s unprecedented decision to seek the deportation of a U.S. permanent resident without bringing any criminal charges has an overlooked ally, however: the largest financier of Trump’s three presidential campaigns, Israeli-American billionaire Miriam Adelson.
Adelson’s support for the administration’s campaign to stifle criticism of Israel on college campuses isn’t a new focus but her alignment with the levers of state powers to implement her vision are unprecedented. In fact, tax documents reveal that she is directly overseeing a social media campaign targeting Khalil and Columbia University.
In 2015, Adelson, alongside her husband Sheldon, who died in 2021, funded the newly formed Maccabee Task Force (MTF) with $2.28 million, according to IRS filings from the couple’s foundation. MTF claims to “combat the disturbing spread of Antisemitism on college campuses” but in practice spends much of its efforts attacking the boycott, divest and sanctions campaign against Israel, which MTF characterizes as “an Antisemitic movement that crosses the line from legitimate criticism of Israel into the dangerous demonization of Israel and its supporters.”
The Adelsons’ support for the group has ballooned since 2015, totalling nearly $70 million in funds flowing from the couple’s family foundation to MTF between 2016 and 2023.
At the same time, the couple served as the largest donors to Trump’s presidential campaigns and to the Republican Party, sending approximately $600 million in reported political contributions to support Trump’s three presidential campaigns as well as other Republican congressional and gubernatorial races since 2015.
Trump’s decision to target Khalil wades into murky waters. His attempt to deport a U.S. permanent resident for protesting Israel’s war in Gaza is polarizing and raises questions about why the president is so determined to protect the largest recipient of U.S. foreign assistance — a recipient of U.S. tax dollars proven exempt from Trump’s blitz against foreign aid — from criticism on college campuses. But one doesn’t have to look far to see he has an ally in this fight.
While Maccabee Task Force’s website makes no mention of Miriam Adelson, the group’s most recent IRS filing reveals she is far more than just its major funder. The Israeli-American billionaire is also MTF’s president. And under her leadership the group — with its sizable social media presence, particularly on Facebook where it has over 317,000 followers — came out swinging against Khalil and Columbia University with vitriolic and profane attacks.
Hellbound and Down 