Trump celebrates Hanukkah, Jerusalem at White House

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Donald Trump is celebrating an "especially special" Hanukkah at the White House a day after declaring Jerusalem Israel's capital and setting off criticism and clashes.

Trump says he's thinking about "the love that's all over Israel and all about Jerusalem."

Trump's decision on Jerusalem put the United States at odds with most other countries.

But inside the White House Thursday, Trump got only applause, cheers and thanks from the crowd, which included Vice President Mike Pence, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Holocaust survivor Louise Lawrence-Israels.

Orthodox Rabbi Meir Soloveichik says, "For the first time since the founding of the state of Israel, an American president has courageously declared what we have always proclaimed. which is that Jerusalem is the capital of Israel," Soloveichik said.