‘She’s just a troublemaker’ – Trump on Thunberg arrest in Israel

The US president’s comments came after the activist was deported for attempting to sail to Gaza a second time

US President Donald Trump has mocked activist Greta Thunberg for her second failed attempt to reach Gaza aboard an aid flotilla, which led to her arrest and deportation by Israeli authorities.

Thunberg had joined over 400 activists in trying to sail to the blockaded enclave, only to be detained by the Israeli navy on Friday. More than 130 of them were deported to Türkiye over the weekend. The young environmentalist was among a group deported to Greece and Slovakia on Monday.

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When asked about the Swedish activist, Trump responded “she is a troublemaker.” 

“She’s no longer into the environment, now she’s into this… She needs to see a doctor. She has an anger management problem,” he told journalists at the Oval Office on Monday.

On Saturday, fellow activists and lawyers claimed that Thunberg, along with others, was subjected to “torture” and “harsh treatment” in an Israeli desert prison after their arrest.

West Jerusalem rejected the claims, while National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir said he was “proud” of the harsh conditions the activists were being held in.

Thunberg and Trump have sparred online for years, often throwing each other’s words back as counter-arguments.

In 2019, the US president ribbed the activist for her “anger management problem” after she was named Time’s Person of the Year. Thunberg responded by updating her Twitter (now X) biography to include: “A teenager working on her anger management problem.”