Let’s Make Israel Great Again?

Trump – the man, the hairdo and the Twitter – is returning to power. You can love it or relate to it less, but it is a given. And what does it mean for us? Changes, upheavals and above all – lots of opportunities hiding behind risks. Don’t make the mistake of going back to scrolling Ynet – this is not just another American political drama in the style of "House of Cards". When America changes the rules of the game, Israeli startups may find themselves in an entirely new game – or, alternatively, in exactly the right place to lead the next move.

Trump – the serial rule-breaker

If there is one thing Trump proved in his first term, it is that he knows how to break conventions. When any other president would have hesitated before launching a trade war, Trump went in aggressively and flipped the table of economic relations between the US and China. And Trump being Trump, everything is done big. He didn’t just change the rules of the game – he created a new game, in which founders need to think faster, adapt better and reinvent themselves every single day.

1. Deregulation: Trump isn’t just breaking rules, he’s building a new track

In his previous term, Trump prided himself on deregulation on steroids. He cut through bureaucracy like an Israeli contractor who promises "it’ll be fine" and starts working before the permit arrives. The result? A more open market for fields such as fintech, health and energy, and scalability we had not seen before. What does this mean for founders? Less regulation means faster entry into markets – but it also means you will have to navigate carefully in a market where competition may become wild and brutal. In fintech, for example, Israeli companies are already leading, and the pace will pick up even more. But there is also a dark side: deregulation may lead to lower user trust, especially when tech products reach the market without sufficient controls. Israeli founders will need to be not only fast but also smart – and to build solutions that offer transparency and reliability.

2. Trade War 2.0: Trump loves to fight, and Israel can win

In his previous term, Trump declared a trade war on China – and turned the international technology market into a battlefield. This may sound threatening, but this is exactly the point where Israel thrives. The Americans don’t want to depend on Chinese technology? Excellent, because Israel is the perfect solution. Fields such as cyber, advanced chips and even agri-tech solutions – all of these are getting priority among American investors looking for reliable partners.

3. Fake news and AI: Trump understood how to play the media game

This week I met with a senior figure in the Israeli economy, who had just returned from the annual G7 summit – a prestigious forum that brings together the world’s seven leading economies to discuss the critical issues of our time. When he asked me what I thought was the biggest threat raised in the discussions, I immediately thought of familiar issues such as changes in the global economy or global warming. But no. The main reason? Fake news. Trump, the first president to make attacking the traditional media part of his brand, coined the phrase "Fake News" and used it like a slogan, roughly every two hours in his tweets. But alongside the meteoric rise of fake news, artificial intelligence has developed into an essential tool for detecting media manipulation and preserving the reliability of information in a world of uncertainty. This field, which was only in its infancy during Trump’s first term, is going to explode in his second term. Israeli founders, with advanced technological capabilities in AI, are in an excellent position to lead the fight against fake news or – alternatively – to refine the tools for creating it (I’m assuming you’re on the moral side, right?).

4. American investors: what are they looking for now?

During Trump’s previous term, we saw increased movement of American investors toward Israeli startups. This was not only because of the close diplomatic relations, but also because investors understood that Israel offers something that exists nowhere else: innovation born out of constraints. Now, with Trump returning to the arena, this appetite will only grow. Fields such as cyber, renewable energy and digital health are expected to be at the top of American investors’ priorities. And how lucky, because Israel knows how to excel in exactly these fields.

The bottom line:

Trump 2.0 is not just an American political story – it is a shift of tectonic plates that affects us directly. Israel, as always, will need to seize the opportunities that arise from uncertainty. Remember: it is precisely out of risk that the greatest opportunities are born. The world needs innovation, and we – Israeli founders, women and men alike – are exactly the people who can deliver it.