‘A strange person’: Trump says Greta Thunberg needs ‘anger management class’ over ‘kidnapping’ by Israel

US President Donald Trump has said that Swedish activist Greta Thunberg should attend “anger management” classes after she claimed that the Israeli military “kidnapped” her.

Thunberg and 11 other activists were stopped from travelling to Gaza after their boat was seized in the Israeli port of Ashdod on Monday. The crew of the ‘Madleen’ ship were en route to Gaza to deliver aid to Palestinians when their ship was turned back, and on Tuesday, the 12 people were brought to the airport for deportation.

Trump said that he had called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and said that Thunberg came up during their discussion. “She’s a young, angry person. I don’t know if it’s real anger; it’s hard to believe, actually. But I saw what happened. She’s certainly different. Anger management. I think she has to go to an angry management class. That’s my primary recommendation for her.”

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Trump: "I think Israel has enough problems without kidnapping Greta Thunberg" pic.twitter.com/Nq3RezZ0rl

— Ken Klippenstein (@kenklippenstein) June 9, 2025

The aid ship has been organised by the Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC), which accused the Israeli military of “attacking”  and “unlawfully boarding” the Madleen.

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The Madleen was intercepted about 185 kilometres (115 miles) west of the coast of Gaza, according to coordinates from the coalition.

It was carrying rice and baby formula to Gaza, which has been deprived of aid by Israel.

The vessel carries citizens from Brazil, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, and Turkey, including Rima Hassan, a French Member of the European Parliament, and Omar Faiad, a French journalist with Al Jazeera.

The seizing of the activist boat carrying aid for Gaza has been condemned by leaders across the world, including Hamas, which demanded the immediate release of the crew and called the interception “a flagrant violation of international law, and an attack on civilian volunteers acting out of humanitarian motives.”

French President Emmanuel Macron called on Israel to quickly free activists. Macron had “requested that the six French nationals be allowed to return to France as soon as possible,” his office said.