President Donald Trump recommends that young left-wing activist Greta Thunberg “go to an anger-management class.”
“Well, she’s a strange person. She’s a young, angry person,” Trump told reporters when asked about the Israel Defense Forces’ interception of a boat carrying Thunberg about 100 miles off the coast of Gaza.
“I don’t know if it’s real anger,” the president continued. “It’s hard to believe, actually, but I saw what happened. She’s certainly different.”
Thunberg, 22, and a group of pro-Palestine activists were intercepted when attempting to deliver aid to Gaza late Sunday. Following her apprehension, the group backing the activist’s voyage released a video of Thunberg claiming she had been kidnapped.
“I think Israel has enough problems without kidnapping Greta Thunberg,” Trump said.
The Israeli Foreign Ministry shared photos of Thunberg aboard an airplane early Tuesday morning, writing on X, “Greta Thunberg just departed Israel on a flight to Sweden (via France).”
Thunberg is a Swedish citizen better known for her work as a climate change activist, but has also become outspoken in her pro-Palestine views.
Thunberg was one of several passengers on the intercepted boat to be deported, while some refused deportation and “will be brought before a judicial authority, in accordance with Israeli law, to authorize their deportation,” the Foreign Ministry said.
Thunberg spoke with the press when she arrived in Paris and clapped back at Trump’s comments about her being “angry.”
“Well, I think the world needs a lot of more young, angry women, to be honest, especially with everything going on right now,” she said.
The youthful activist’s voyage to Gaza was an initiative of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, a pro-Palestine group that aims to “break Israel’s more than 17-year illegal and inhumane blockade of the Gaza Strip,” according to its website.
“We respect everyone’s human rights, regardless of race, gender, tribe, religion, ethnicity, nationality, citizenship, disability, sexual orientation, or language,” according to the group. “Because we respect everyone’s human rights, we stand in solidarity with the Palestinian people in their quest for freedom, equality, and human rights.”