Potential Trump visit to iconic Gottlieb’s deli has Hasidic world aflutter

Speculation that the former president will stop by was sparked by visits from the Secret Service

Published September 18, 2024

This story was originally published in the Forward. Click here to get the Forward’s free email newsletters delivered to your inbox.

When the U.S. Secret Service scoped out Gottlieb’s deli this week, a Kosher restaurant in Williamsburg, word spread through Hasidic Brooklyn faster than flanken falling off the bone.

“The excitement in Williamsburg is palpable,” reported Matzav.com, an Orthodox news site. Hasidic WhatsApp is crackling with speculation.

Some reports say it could actually be JD Vance, Trump’s running mate, who will visit Gottlieb’s on Thursday. The rumor mill says it’s Trump. Gottlieb’s owner isn’t sure, but talks as if it might be Trump.

And that he will likely nosh.

“Trump I imagine will order something to eat, will possibly eat here, meet and greet people but I’m not sure how,” Gottlieb’s owner, Menashe Gottlieb told a news reporter Tuesday in Yiddish outside his restaurant.

Gottlieb’s restaurant in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn Photo by Twitter screenshot

Video from Willilamsburg 365 News via X

He said the Secret Service had on Sunday and Monday visited the restaurant, which was founded 65 years ago by his grandfather, Zoltan Gottlieb, a Holocaust survivor.

Corned beef and cholent

Wood-paneled Gottlieb’s evokes an earlier era of Yiddishkeit, with its retro sign and hot dogs rolling on the grill. “As old school as you can get,” wrote one Facebook fan.

It’s a particularly popular hangout for Jews of the Satmar sect, one of the most insulated of Hasidic groups.

But Gottlieb’s, which seats about 50, welcomes outsiders too. Yelp is full of reviews from tourists praising its heavy Ashkenazi specialties: pastrami sandwiches, cholent, fried onions, matzo ball soup and five kinds of kugels. And non-Hasidic tour guides regularly bring their clients for a meal at Gottlieb’s, which is Glatt kosher, meaning it adheres to very strict kosher standards.

“Had a taste for a corned beef sandwich,” wrote one Gottlieb’s customer, who gave it five stars. “The quintessential Brooklyn deli experience.”

It’s that quintessential-ness that makes Gottlieb’s an attractive spot for a politician trying to court the Jewish vote by eating its comfort food.

Though Trump is not popular among New Yorkers, and the vast majority of Jewish Americans do not vote for him, he enjoys the support of many Orthodox Jews. In swing states, Jewish voters make up between as much as 3% of the electorate — more than separated President Joe Biden and Trump in the presidential last election.

Why would Trump go to Gottlieb’s, the Yiddish-speaking reporter asked its owner.

“Gottlieb’s is Gottlieb’s,” said Gottlieb, who was told by the Secret Service to pay close attention to his phone in the coming days.

But in the meantime, he said, “officially we’re open for customers.”

Thanks to Forward archivist Chana Pollack for the Yiddish translation.

Lauren Markoe is news editor of the Forward. A Bronx native, she reported for The Patriot Ledger, several McClatchy newspapers in the South, and Religion News Service, where she was also managing editor. She also produced live radio shows at WAMU in Washington, D.C., where she lives.

This story was originally published on the Forward.